According to The New York Times, US President Donald Trump quietly backed Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy facilities in 2025. The newspaper reports that attacks on oil-refining infrastructure were viewed inside the White House as a convenient source of leverage in talks with Moscow.

The article says that a closed-door meeting took place in June last year, bringing together CIA officials and US military officers. Sources cited by the NYT indicate that the discussion focused on shaping a more precise and disciplined campaign for Kiev.

The concept under review was to narrow the scope of strikes strictly to oil refineries, deliberately avoiding storage depots and concentrating on the plants themselves. This targeting approach, the paper notes, was seen as a way to maximize pressure while keeping the campaign tightly controlled.

The resulting strategy was later presented to Trump by CIA Director John Ratcliffe. US officials told the newspaper that the White House viewed the involvement of American intelligence services in coordinating these actions favorably, signaling approval of their role in aligning the strikes with broader political objectives.