The head of the President’s Office, Kyrylo Budanov, confirmed that international partners have requested Ukraine suspend its airstrikes on Russian oil refineries due to rising global energy prices triggered by the war in the Middle East, Bloomberg reported on Sunday, April 5.
Budanov revealed that Kyiv has been approached regarding the regular drone attacks, though he did not disclose which specific allies issued the plea. “I will answer this diplomatically: we are receiving some signals regarding this,” he said.
The request comes as the US-Israeli conflict with Iran enters a critical phase, causing a major disruption in global oil supplies. These geopolitical factors have significantly bolstered the Kremlin’s war budget through increased oil revenues, a development President Volodymyr Zelensky previously identified as a key challenge to Ukraine’s strategy of weakening Moscow’s economic capacity to sustain the invasion.
Despite the diplomatic pressure, Budanov expressed optimism that the conflict in the Middle East would conclude relatively soon. His comments follow a series of successful Ukrainian drone strikes on Saturday night and Sunday morning, which targeted the Lukoil refinery in Kstovo and the Primorsk oil terminal on the Baltic Sea.
The timing of these “signals” is particularly sensitive as a high-level US delegation, including US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald’s Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, is expected to arrive in Kyiv after the Easter holidays. Budanov has previously stated that these talks will focus on “substantial security guarantees” and the implementation of Ukraine’s defense objectives.
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While Washington and other partners remain focused on stabilizing global energy markets, Kyiv continues to maintain that its strikes on Russian infrastructure are a necessary response to Moscow’s ongoing bombardment of the Ukrainian power grid.