JRL NEWSWATCH: “U.S. urged Ukraine to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries” – Financial Times
“Washington told Kyiv that drone attacks risk driving up crude prices and provoking retaliation”
“… The repeated warnings from Washington [reportedly] were delivered to senior officials at Ukraine’s state security service, the SBU, and its military intelligence directorate, known as the GUR …. Both intelligence units have steadily expanded their own drone programmes to strike Russian targets on land, sea and in the air …. Russia remains one of the world’s most important energy exporters despite western sanctions on … oil and gas …. Oil prices have risen about 15 per cent this year, to $85 a barrel, pushing up fuel costs just as … Biden begins his campaign for re-election. Washington is also concerned that if Ukraine keeps hitting Russian facilities, … Russia could retaliate by lashing out at energy infrastructure relied on by the west. …”