A rupture between Kyiv and Washington widened this week after Ukrainian officials accused Western partners of withholding critical early-warning data during a string of deadly Russian missile strikes, just as the United States pressures Ukraine to permanently stop hitting Russian oil refineries.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that Ukraine's partners had not shared data from NATO's early-warning satellites, which detect ballistic missile launches by their thermal signature within seconds of liftoff and can give Ukrainians up to 10 minutes to sound air-raid sirens. "That's what helps prevent the killings," Zelenskyy said, without naming the United States directly, according to Al Jazeera. Ground-based radar, by contrast, picks up incoming missiles only in their final seconds, since the weapons travel between 6,000 and 12,000 km/h. Retired Lt. Gen. Ihor Romanenko, a former deputy chief of Ukraine's general staff, said the gap "significantly affects the effectiveness of air defence." This week's nightly bombardments have killed at least 15 people and wounded dozens more. President Trump has denied that Washington cut off intelligence sharing.

A Ceasefire That Never Quite Held

The dispute traces back to Trump's surprise announcement last Sunday of an "energy ceasefire" covering both Russian refineries and Ukrainian power plants — "Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine," he posted on Truth Social. Kyiv said it was blindsided by the announcement, and Moscow never publicly confirmed it while continuing to strike Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Ukraine paused its own refinery strikes for three days before resuming them Wednesday, hitting refineries in Russia's Saratov and Ryazan regions; Ryazan governor Pavel Malkov described a "massive drone attack" that sparked a fire at the facility.

In an interview with the Financial Times published Thursday, Zelenskyy made clear the pause is over. "The block [on attacking refineries] is out. We're done," he said, confirming Ukraine would resist US pressure to stand down, per Newsweek's account of the interview. Asked separately by Piers Morgan whether he felt "betrayed" by Trump, Zelenskyy answered simply, "Yes."

"THE BLOCK [ON ATTACKING REFINERIES] IS OUT. WE'RE DONE."

Behind the scenes, US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner warned Ukrainian officials during talks in Miami that intelligence sharing could be cut if the refinery strikes continued, according to RBC-Ukraine's reporting, citing Axios. One US official was blunter: "Zelensky is misreading the room," the official said, adding that by continuing to hit refineries "he is eroding the good will." The pressure comes as Trump has also eased sanctions on Russian diesel entering US markets, a move aimed at lowering American gas prices ahead of the midterms that Zelenskyy has called a "simple victory" for Moscow.

Starlink Squeeze

Ukraine's drone chief, Serhiy Beskrestnov, said this week that SpaceX had abruptly capped Starlink terminal speeds on drones moving faster than 160 km/h (100 mph) — a limit that disables many of Ukraine's long-range strike drones and the interceptors it flies against Russian Shahed drones. A presidential adviser said the restriction followed a request from Trump; Elon Musk said the White House alone controls the military-grade Starshield system and sets its speed limits. John Hardie of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies called the timing "inexcusable" given Russia's continued strikes on Ukrainian power plants, while human rights lawyer Oleksandra Matviichuk warned that without interceptors, Russian drones could hit "homes, hospitals and schools like targets in a shooting gallery."

No formal cutoff of US intelligence has been confirmed on the record, and Ukraine's foreign minister has said intelligence sharing is continuing for now. But with winter approaching, Kyiv's air defenses already strained, and both sides doubling down publicly, the fragile ceasefire that began the week looks unlikely to survive it. Witkoff and Kushner are reportedly weighing trips to Moscow and Kyiv in the coming days to try to salvage a broader peace framework.