US President Donald Trump has said Moscow has "unfortunately" lost control of its oil industry, according to independent.co.uk. The remark came as the outlet reported on the latest developments in the Ukraine war on Tuesday.
Trump's comment drew a response from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Sky News reported, after the US president posted about Russia "losing control of diesel oil."
Reporting on the same day indicated Trump intends to raise the issue of Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil facilities directly with Zelensky. The Telegraph reported that Trump will confront Zelensky over attacks on Russian refineries, while the Financial Times reported that he is pressing the Ukrainian leader to halt such strikes.
Separately, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Ukraine has repeatedly struck vessels linked to the United States, according to pravda.com.ua. That claim, as reported by the outlet, adds a further point of friction between Washington and Kyiv over Ukraine's targeting of energy and shipping infrastructure.
The reports point to a widening disagreement over how far Ukraine should go in hitting Russian oil operations, at a time when Washington is seeking to manage the conflict's economic fallout. Trump's public remarks about Russia's oil sector, and the reported plan to raise refinery strikes in talks with Zelensky, suggest the topic will feature prominently in their next contact.
What to watch next: whether Trump and Zelensky address the refinery strikes publicly, and how Kyiv responds to Rubio's claim about vessels tied to the US.
