(Reuters) -The U.S. has been serving to Ukraine mount long-range strikes on Russian vitality services for months in a joint effort to weaken the financial system and pressure President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating desk, the Monetary Instances reported on Sunday.
U.S. intelligence has helped Kyiv strike vital Russian vitality property, together with oil refineries, far past the entrance line, the newspaper mentioned, citing unnamed Ukrainian and U.S. officers acquainted with the marketing campaign.
The White Home, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s workplace and Ukraine’s overseas ministry didn’t instantly reply to Reuters requests for remark. There was no quick remark from the Russian overseas ministry.
Moscow mentioned this month that Washington and its NATO alliance have been often supplying intelligence to Kyiv within the warfare Putin launched in February 2022.
“The availability and use of all the infrastructure of NATO and the US to gather and switch intelligence to Ukrainians is apparent,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov advised reporters then.
The FT mentioned U.S. intelligence helps Kyiv form route planning, altitude, timing and mission selections, enabling Ukraine’s long-range, one-way assault drones to evade Russian air defences.
The US is intently concerned in all phases of planning, it mentioned, citing three individuals acquainted with the operation. A U.S. official was quoted as saying Ukraine chosen the targets for long-range strikes and Washington then supplied intelligence on the websites’ vulnerabilities.
Early this month two U.S. officers advised Reuters that Washington would supply Ukraine with intelligence on long-range vitality infrastructure targets in Russia, because it weighs whether or not to ship Kyiv missiles that could possibly be utilized in such strikes.
The U.S. additionally requested NATO allies to supply related help, the U.S. officers mentioned.
Zelenskiy mentioned on Saturday he had mentioned Russian assaults on the Ukrainian vitality system in a “constructive and productive” name with U.S. President Donald Trump.
“We mentioned alternatives to bolster our air protection, in addition to concrete agreements that we’re engaged on to make sure this. There are good choices and stable concepts on the right way to really strengthen us,” Zelenskiy posted on X.
(Reporting by Yazhini MV in Bengaluru; Further reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Enhancing by William Mallard)
