Sooner Russian oil refineries are completely destroyed, better — Estonian Prime Minister Michal
The destruction of Russian oil refineries and other energy export facilities will weaken the Russian Federation's ability to finance the war.
Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal made this statement before the start of the European Council meeting, according to Censor.NET, which cites the European Parliament.
Details
"I have publicly stated in Estonia that the sooner all Russian oil refineries and facilities that enable the sale of energy resources are completely destroyed, the better. Because Russia is financing the war," Michal emphasized.
At the same time, according to the Estonian prime minister, the U.S. is still relied upon as a partner and NATO ally that provides assistance on security issues.
"We rely on them. Sometimes even good friends need to be reminded of what is right," said the Estonian prime minister.
He also mentioned that Estonia shares a border with Russia and has the support of three nuclear powers within NATO: the United States, the United Kingdom, and France.
"We have encountered instances where vessels from the 'shadow fleet' damaged our cables and various pipelines. We have also had incidents of Russian fighter jets violating our airspace."
We've even had to shoot down various drones in our airspace. In all these cases, we received assistance from NATO.
"Therefore, based on this, I must say that NATO is working well, and the U.S. is a partner within NATO. Trump assured us and everyone else most recently in Ankara that he is upholding his commitments to NATO, including Article 5," Michal concluded.
The U.S.-Russia Diesel Deal and Threats to Ukraine
- On October 9, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that he had spoken with Russian dictator Putin, with whom he had agreed on the supply of diesel fuel from Russia to markets in the United States and around the world.
- According to him, Russia will "immediately" supply more than 300,000 metric tons of diesel to the U.S. and global markets, another 500,000 metric tons in November, and another million metric tons "immediately afterward."
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The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that, at Trump's direction, the Office of Foreign Assets Control is immediately issuing a temporary general license to allow the supply of Russian diesel fuel to the global market.
- In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Russia's authorization to sell petroleum products "an investment in war" and urged the U.S. to have a firm conversation with Moscow and impose sanctions under the Lindsey Graham Act.
- Axios reported that during talks in Miami, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner allegedly warned the Ukrainian side that access to U.S. intelligence information could be cut off if Ukraine continued to carry out strikes on Russian oil refineries.
- On October 11, President Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine would be ready to halt attacks on Russian oil refineries if Russia stopped striking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
- That same day, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the start of an energy truce between Ukraine and Russia.
- In a comment to Axios, Zelenskyy said that U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of the start of an "energy truce" came as a surprise to the Ukrainian side.
- Later, the president stated that Ukraine is prepared to refrain from striking Russian energy infrastructure, provided that Russia takes similar steps.
