'You're attacking correctly': Kellogg backs Ukraine's strikes on Russian oil refineries
Former US special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg (photo: Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Ukraine should keep striking Russian oil refineries, and Moscow's diesel deal with Washington may be an attempt to ease that pressure, said retired General Keith Kellogg, the former US special envoy for Ukraine, on Fox News.
Kellogg does not believe Russian President Vladimir Putin is offering fuel to the United States out of goodwill.
"I would tell to Vladimir Putin: Thank you very much, this really helps us, good. But I'd look at underlying motives behind him arranging for diesel coming to the United States and the international market," the general said.
In his view, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is launching powerful strikes on Russian oil refineries deep inside Russia, and Putin is looking for a way to ease that pressure. Moscow may hope to halt the attacks through the Americans, who are currently holding talks in Miami with the Ukrainian delegation and national security advisers from the United Kingdom, Germany and France.
Kellogg also acknowledged that he trusts neither Putin nor Kirill Dmitriev, the Kremlin's special representative for economic affairs.
The general stressed that Ukraine and Russia are striking fundamentally different targets. Ukrainian forces primarily target the military-industrial complex, while Russian forces strike schools and churches.
According to Kellogg, Ukraine is bringing the war onto Russia's territory, and Russians are increasingly feeling its consequences.
Kellogg recalled that Putin expected to complete his so-called special military operation in days, but the war is now in its fifth and a half year. Russia is currently trying to capture the remaining part of the Donetsk region, but the general doubts it will succeed.
"They [Ukraine – ed.] will not do that [halt strikes –ed.]. They will keep attacking, as they should. It's a military operation. It's a war. You're attacking correctly," he concluded.
Trump announced the deal after speaking with Putin on October 9. Moscow is to send up to 1.8 million tons of diesel fuel to global markets, while the US Treasury Department has temporarily eased sanctions. Trump himself has repeatedly urged Kyiv to stop striking Russia's energy infrastructure, blaming the attacks for a global fuel shortage.
Ukrainian officials have made their position clear: a source familiar with the matter told RBC-Ukraine that strikes on Russian oil refineries will continue until an energy truce is reached. The following night, after the deal was announced, drones struck an oil loading terminal at the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Russia's Rostov region.
