headline
Trump says U.S. still sharing intel, even as Ukraine reports attacks with no warnings
KYIV, Oct 13 (Reuters) - US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Washington was still sharing intelligence with Ukraine, even as Kyiv reported new Russian missile attacks that came without usual warnings and accused Russia of violating an energy truce the US president announced at the weekend.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russian forces attacked Kyiv on Tuesday with ballistic missiles, targeting a thermal power plant, and Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a strike on a high-rise apartment building killed two people.
"Once again, no advance warning from our partners," Zelenskiy said on Telegram without explaining why no warning was given.
"According to our intelligence, the Russians are preparing further ballistic missile launches," he said, adding that the attacks showed Russia did not feel bound by Trump's energy ceasefire.
Trump on Sunday announced a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, but the warring sides have not confirmed the truce.
Zelenskiy has come under pressure from Trump to halt attacks on Russian oil refineries after the US president eased sanctions on Russian diesel exports, arguing the move would help lower fuel prices ahead of next month's midterm elections.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump said Washington continued to share intelligence with Ukraine and was working with both Kyiv and Moscow to end the war.
"We are helping them, and we are sharing intel," he said.
Kyiv relies heavily on US intelligence for early warnings of missile strikes and for its own targeting of Russian military sites, experts and officials say.
ZELENSKIY SAYS SANCTIONS RELIEF WON'T LOWER US PRICES
Zelenskiy told NPR in an interview that US intelligence sharing had not stopped, but his generals had been warned that it might be.
NPR said Zelenskiy was careful to avoid direct criticism of Trump, but he did say the decision on diesel sanctions would not affect prices in the United States.
"I'm sure ... because the volume is not enough," Zelenskiy said, according to excerpts broadcast by NPR.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine had not targeted Russian refineries since Trump's announcement on Sunday.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine was still receiving US military intelligence and attributed the delay to the type of weapon Russia had used.
Yet Trump has repeatedly blamed Ukrainian attacks – which prompted Moscow to suspend diesel exports – for a sharp rise in US fuel prices this year, a headache for his Republican Party ahead of the congressional midterm elections in three weeks.
Russia struck six Ukrainian energy sites on Monday.
A Kremlin spokesman, asked about the energy ceasefire, would only say that contacts were ongoing, but declined to provide any further details.
In his nightly video address posted on X, Zelenskiy said he had sent proposals to US officials with a view to new meetings in coming days with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on ways to resolve the conflict.
He said Ukraine supported Trump's announcement of an energy truce provided that Russia observed it.
A Ukrainian delegation held talks in the United States last week and people familiar with the meeting said Witkoff and Kushner told them that a deal to allow Russian diesel exports was part of a bid to draw Russia back to negotiations.
UKRAINE SAYS IT NOW HAS CARDS TO PLAY
Fabian Hoffmann, a missile expert at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, said Ukraine's European allies had "very limited" ability to replace US early-warning intelligence about Russian missile strikes.
Sybiha said the US request to halt attacks on Russian refineries showed how Ukraine's position had strengthened, alluding to Trump's comment to Zelenskiy in a tense Oval Office meeting last year that "you don't have the cards".
That is an achievement," Sybiha said.