WSJ: Ukraine, under pressure from Trump, has temporarily halted strikes on Russian oil refineries

A pause tied to the US elections

Ukraine has temporarily halted strikes on Russian oil refineries under pressure from Donald Trump's administration — the Wall Street Journal reports, citing sources; kun.uz provided a brief summary of the publication. According to the outlet, the unofficial pause began last week, at the height of the crisis in Kyiv-Washington relations, and is expected to last until the US midterm elections, which will take place on November 3. The practice of refraining from strikes may continue after the elections, in November. Reuters, as kun.uz notes, said it could not independently confirm the WSJ report.

Levers of pressure and the dispute over fuel prices

The WSJ emphasizes that Ukraine's dependence on Starlink satellite communications, US intelligence data, and missiles for Patriot air defense systems keeps Washington able to pressure Kyiv — including after Trump, upon returning to the White House, halted a significant portion of military and financial aid to Ukraine. According to the outlet, in recent weeks Trump demanded that Volodymyr Zelensky stop attacks on Russian refineries, blaming Ukraine for high fuel prices worldwide. Energy experts cited in the article, however, attribute the price increase primarily to the US and Israel's war against Iran. The outlet also notes that Republican candidates fear expensive fuel will negatively affect the results of the November 3 elections, and interprets Trump's easing of sanctions on Russian diesel fuel as an attempt to reduce costs for American farmers and other consumers.

Oslo: a request for a 30-day pause

According to two US officials whom the WSJ spoke with on condition of anonymity, on October 20, during talks in Oslo, Trump's son-in-law and special envoy Jared Kushner urged Zelensky to suspend strikes on Russian oil refineries for 30 days. The meeting was attended by Zelensky, US presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff, and European delegations; Kushner joined by video link. The outlet's sources say Kushner emphasized how much time, effort, and aviation fuel he and Witkoff were spending on negotiations with Moscow over the terms for ending the war, and presented the 30-day pause as a step by which Ukraine could demonstrate its gratitude.

Starlink and the strikes: are the issues connected

The day after the Oslo meeting, Trump called SpaceX head Elon Musk and asked him to restore the Starlink service for Ukraine. However, US officials who spoke with the WSJ said the questions of resuming Starlink operations and halting strikes on oil refineries are not connected. Importantly, the entire picture rests on anonymous sources from a single outlet: Reuters could not confirm it, and the timing of the pause itself and its continuation after November 3 remain WSJ assumptions rather than officially confirmed decisions by Kyiv or Washington.