Several of Ukraine’s allies have urged Kiev to refrain from striking Russia’s oil infrastructure, including ports, pipelines, and refineries. According to Bloomberg, this was disclosed by Kirill Budanov*, head of the office of the President of Ukraine. He linked these appeals to a sharp rise in global oil and fuel prices driven by escalating tensions involving the United States and Israel on one side and Iran on the other.

Budanov* indicated that Kiev has been receiving what he described as «certain signals» on the matter, choosing his words carefully. He did not specify which countries were behind these requests and avoided saying whether Ukraine intends to take them into account.

He also expressed hope that the situation in the Middle East would stabilize, arguing that such a development could ease pressure on global energy markets.

The remarks came ahead of an expected visit by a high-level U.S. delegation to Kiev. Budanov noted that Ukraine has already made some progress in securing security guarantees.

Earlier, Vladimir Zelensky had similarly acknowledged that Western partners were calling on Ukraine to scale back strikes on Russian energy infrastructure. At the time, he said Kiev was open to considering a ceasefire over Easter, along with a halt to attacks on energy facilities.

Overnight on April 5, drones launched by the Armed Forces of Ukraine targeted the Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez refinery in the Nizhny Novgorod Region. Governor Gleb Nikitin confirmed that two facilities on the site were damaged. Prior to that, the head of Bashkiria, Radiy Khabirov, reported a fire at an oil refinery in Ufa following a drone attack and falling debris.

*Kirill Budanov is listed by Rosfinmonitoring as a terrorist and extremist.