'Very tough' talks: Trump's son-in-law pushed Ukraine to pause refinery strikes
Photo: Jared Kushner (Getty Images)
US special envoy Jared Kushner, who is President Donald Trump's son-in-law, reportedly pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy very hard to suspend strikes on Russian oil refineries during a conversation in Oslo, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The meeting took place on October 20. Kushner joined the conversation remotely due to illness. One WSJ source described it as “very tough.”
According to a source familiar with the discussion, Kushner insisted that Ukraine stop striking Russian oil refineries.
The source said that he and US special envoy Steve Witkoff were spending considerable time, effort, and aviation fuel on negotiations with Moscow, so Kyiv should show its appreciation by agreeing to a 30-day pause in attacks.
The day after the meeting, Donald Trump called Elon Musk and asked him to restore Starlink satellite service in Ukraine.
US officials said the issue of Starlink access and Ukraine's attacks on Russian oil refineries were unrelated.
However, Ukrainian and European officials described the situation differently. According to one European official, Kyiv was being pushed to suspend strikes on oil refineries until after the US midterm elections.
Some European supporters of Ukraine were also becoming increasingly concerned about escalating rhetoric between Trump and Zelenskyy, as well as disruptions to Starlink service.
A Ukrainian military official told the WSJ that Ukraine urgently needed help from the White House to restore satellite connectivity.
“Starlink and refineries became two parts of one story,” the official said.
Earlier, a source told RBC-Ukraine that US President Donald Trump's team was continuing peace negotiations aimed at ending Russia's war while taking a cautious stance on the issue of Donbas.
However, calls to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries are still being heard.
