The United States would discreetly support Ukraine in attacks targeting Russian energy infrastructure, providing essential intelligence for their planning and execution, according to the British daily Financial Times.
For several months, the United States has actively supported Ukraine in its long-range strikes against Russian energy infrastructure, reported October 12 Financial Times. According to Ukrainian and American officials cited by the newspaper, this “cooperation” aims to weaken “Vladimir Putin’s economy and push him towards negotiations”.
The British daily notes that “thanks” to the intelligence transmitted by Washington, kyiv was able to reach oil refineries and other strategic targets located well beyond the front line. This aid, long discreet, intensified in mid-summer, despite initial reluctance from the White House.
The Financial Times believes that a decisive turning point came after a call between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky last July. The US president reportedly asked whether Ukraine could strike Moscow if Washington provided it with long-range weapons. According to two people briefed on the conversation, Donald Trump seemed open to a strategy intended to “make Russia feel the pain” to “get it to negotiate.” The White House later clarified that it was “merely asking a question, not encouraging further violence.”
However, since this exchange, coordination between Washington and kyiv has deepened. Still according to the British newspaper, the American services now participate in planning routes, altitudes and mission schedules, in order to circumvent Russian anti-aircraft defenses.
American involvement would cover all stages of operations: choice of targets, assessment of their vulnerabilities and strategic prioritization. THE Financial Times notes that if kyiv retains the final decision on strikes, Washington’s hand remains very present in defining the key objectives of this campaign.
A dangerous climb
On the diplomatic level, Russia has already made its position known regarding Western military assistance to Ukraine, particularly regarding weapons that can reach targets located inside Russian territory.
So, on October 2, at the plenary session of the Valdai club in Sochi, President Vladimir Putin said that the possible supply of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine by the United States would not have any significant impact on the course of the conflict. He recalled that Russia had already adapted to the presence of ATACMS missiles and had learned to neutralize them.
The Russian president acknowledged that the Tomahawks, although technologically dated, remained powerful weapons. He nevertheless asserted that their use by kyiv would harm Russian-American relations, stressing that their use, without direct involvement of the United States, was in reality impossible. He considered the speculation surrounding these deliveries dangerous and reiterated that the structural problems of the Ukrainian armed forces remained unchanged: according to him, neither the addition of drones nor the multiplication of weapons systems could compensate for the lack of sufficient personnel. The head of state did not exclude that these American announcements on the Tomahawks aim to divert attention from internal difficulties within the United States.
