Capital Economy, Business and Finance
Kyiv is pushing back against reports that the US is pressing Ukraine to stop targeting Russia’s oil infrastructure in an effort to keep oil prices low this election year. The FT ran a triple-sourced report on Friday that Washington had repeatedly asked Ukraine to halt its drone attacks on Russian refineries, which have contributed to a 15 per cent rise in oil prices so far this year by limiting Russian supply. Mikhailo Podolyak, a senior advisor to Ukraine’s President Zelensky, tells Politico Ukraine hasn’t received any such calls from the US, and Ukraine’s energy ministry insists in any case Kyiv’s increasingly bold attacks on the refineries are “fair”. Russia’s oil exports provide extensive funding for its war machine. Ukraine has targeted those exports as its firepower on the front lines dwindles, hitting another oil refinery deep in Russian territory on Saturday morning. As Ukraine uses any means necessary to gain an advantage, Biden is being forced to decide between catering to disgruntled voters or disgruntled allies.