During his visit to the White House on Friday, October 17, his third meeting with US President Donald Trump since taking office in January, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky once again faced the turmoil of American diplomacy. Despite hopes of securing approval for the delivery of Tomahawk missiles – a possibility Trump himself had recently floated as leverage to bring Moscow back to the negotiating table – Zelensky returned to Kyiv empty-handed.
The US president ultimately ruled out the option, which would have enabled Kyiv to strike targets more than 2,000 kilometers from the front line. Paradoxically, the decision came as Washington was expanding its intelligence support to Ukraine – assistance allowed Kyiv’s military to target Russian energy infrastructure more effectively.
On October 12, the Financial Times cited three US officials involved in these operations. According to them, this support partly contributed to rising Russian energy prices and Moscow’s decision to cut diesel exports. The surge in attacks had reportedly forced Russia to temporarily halt fuel production and close several airports, the British financial daily added.
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