US to give Ukraine intelligence on long-range energy targets in Russia
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Washington has long been sharing intelligence with Kyiv, but it will now be easier for Ukraine to hit infrastructure like refineries, pipelines and power plants.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON - The United States will provide Ukraine with intelligence on long-range energy infrastructure targets within Russia, two officials told Reuters on Oct 1, as it weighs whether to send Kyiv missiles that could be used in such strikes.
The US is also asking Nato allies to provide similar support, the US officials said, confirming details first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The decision represents the first known policy change that President Donald Trump has signed off on since hardening his rhetoric towards Russia in recent weeks in an attempt to end Moscow’s more than three-year-long war in neighbouring Ukraine.
Washington has long been sharing intelligence with Kyiv, but the Wall Street Journal said it will now be easier for Ukraine to hit infrastructure like refineries, pipelines and power plants with the aim of depriving the Kremlin of revenue and oil.
Neither the White House nor Ukraine’s mission to the United Nations immediately responded to separate requests for comment from Reuters.
Russia’s UN mission in New York declined to comment.
The move comes as the US is also considering a Ukrainian request for Tomahawk missiles, which have a range of 2,500km – easily enough to hit Moscow and most of European Russia if fired from Ukraine.
Ukraine has also developed its own long-range missile named the Flamingo. Quantities are unknown, as the missile is in early production.
According to US officials cited by the Wall Street Journal, the approval for additional intelligence came shortly before Mr Trump posted on social media last week suggesting that Ukraine could retake all its land occupied by Russia, in a striking rhetorical shift in Kyiv’s favour.
“After seeing the economic trouble (the war) is causing Russia, I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and win all of Ukraine back in its original form,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sept 23 shortly after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
‘Special kind of politician’
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine
Kyiv and European allies consider the invasion to be an imperial-style land grab.
Mr Trump began his second term as president in January, vowing to quickly end the war in Ukraine.
Russia’s UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said during a press conference earlier on Oct 1 to mark the start of Russia’s October presidency of the UN Security Council: “President Trump is a special kind of politician. He likes quick fixes and this is a situation where quick fixes do not work.”
Mr Nebenzya also cited Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying that if the US decided to supply Ukraine with Tomahawks, “it will not change the situation on the battlefield”.
This is the first time the US will provide assistance with Ukrainian long-range strikes deep into Russian territory on energy targets, officials told the Wall Street Journal.
Energy revenue remains the Kremlin’s single most important source of cash to finance the war effort, making oil and gas exports a central target of Western sanctions.
Mr Trump has taken steps to impose an additional tariff on imports from India
Earlier on Oct 1, the Group of Seven nations’ finance ministers said they will take joint steps to increase pressure on Russia by targeting those who are continuing to increase their purchases of Russian oil and those that are facilitating circumvention. REUTERS
