President Donald Trump has denied ordering reported restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Starshield, the military-grade satellite system linked to Elon Musk’s Starlink service, as a wider dispute with President Volodymyr Zelensky over attacks on Russian oil facilities and US policy toward Moscow intensifies.

The disagreement comes amid what the source described as the worst crisis in US-Ukraine relations since the Oval Office confrontation last year. Zelensky has said Ukraine will resume strikes on Russian oil refineries, despite Trump’s contention that such attacks are contributing to high diesel and gasoline prices ahead of US midterm elections.

In a Newsmax interview on Thursday, Trump criticized the Ukrainian president. “I’m not a big fan of Zelensky. They’ve destroyed that country,” Trump said. “I find Zelensky to be more difficult to deal with than Putin.”

Zelensky responded on Friday by praising what he called the “real leaders” in Europe who had continued to support Ukraine during the war.

The tensions followed Trump’s announcement last Friday of a deal to buy diesel from Russia, a move that drew criticism, including from many Republicans. Over the weekend, the administration warned Ukraine that it could suspend intelligence sharing for military operations and block European purchases of US-made weapons unless Kyiv halted long-range attacks on Russian refineries.

Trump later announced a ceasefire covering energy installations, although he subsequently indicated that the Russian and Ukrainian sides had not been told about it in advance. Ukraine observed the arrangement, according to the source, but Russia then carried out air and drone attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities that left 600,000 people without electricity.

On Tuesday, Zelensky said Ukraine had not received its usual US early warning before a Russian ballistic missile strike hit a major power plant in Kyiv and damaged a residential building. Katya Futyma, a 23-year-old Kyiv resident, told CNN’s Jim Sciutto on Thursday that missile attacks in the capital had become increasingly frightening. “You never know, like any second it could hit maybe your house, maybe your (neighbor’s) house,” she said. Asked about the absence of warnings, she said: “I think it’s political … the US had warned us before.”

CNN also reported on Thursday that Ukraine had run out of missiles for the US-made Patriot air-defense system. Trump had earlier raised the possibility of licensing Ukraine to produce versions of the weapon, but the source said he had not followed through on that proposal.

By Thursday, Zelensky said Ukraine would resume attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, which he said had contributed to queues at petrol stations in parts of Russia. In an interview with the Financial Times, he said, “We’re done.” Zelensky also accused the United States of considering further deals with President Vladimir Putin, potentially involving gas.

“Everybody will want to ask how it can be when some people are surviving, fighting, dying — and you make … business with the guys with such aggression,” Zelensky told the newspaper.

Conflicting accounts over Starshield restrictions

The dispute has also focused on reported limits to Starshield, a SpaceX system described in the source as a military-grade version of Starlink. Ukrainian military commanders were reportedly alarmed by restrictions that limited the speed of Ukrainian equipment, including drones, and reduced the military’s ability to communicate and operate aircraft.

According to the source, Starshield is owned and controlled by the US government rather than Musk. The reported curbs were described as giving Russia a significant advantage on the battlefield.

Musk wrote on X on Wednesday that “any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.” Two senior US officials told CNN, however, that Trump did not order the limits. Some officials had become increasingly convinced that Musk was largely responsible, CNN reported.

Reuters reported on Thursday evening, citing two US officials and a Western official briefed on the matter, that the order came from inside the White House.

Trump denied responsibility when questioned by reporters at the White House on Friday. “I didn’t do that,” he said, adding that he was not certain there had been any speed restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Starshield.

“From what I understand, because I just checked this morning, I heard about it through the through the news, through the media, that we didn’t slow it down at all. And I think it’s probably functioning, from what I understand,” Trump said.

He added: “Well, I don’t know if it was anybody, because it wasn’t me, and I don’t think it was Elon (Musk).”

Zelensky told the Financial Times that the disruption was intentional, saying: “It was not a technical problem.” A Ukrainian military source told the newspaper that full functionality had since been restored and that the speed limits had been removed.

Criticism over Russia policy

The Starshield episode followed other recent moves and statements by Trump that have unsettled allies who believe pressure on Putin is necessary to end the war. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Trump’s critics in the United States have argued that the proposed Russian diesel arrangement would do little to cut fuel prices before the midterm elections, while potentially directing billions of dollars into Russia’s economy if implemented in full. Delaware Democratic Senator Chris Coons told CNN News Central on Wednesday that Trump was seeking to improve his own standing and that of Republican Senate candidates.

“Trump is desperate to do anything to help improve his standing and the standing of Republicans running for the Senate in these midterm elections,” Coons said.

The source noted that CNN reported in March that Russia had provided Iran with intelligence on the locations of US ships, aircraft and personnel earlier in the war. It also said Russia has been accused of sabotage and harassment operations against US NATO allies. The head of Britain’s MI5 warned this week that Moscow had become “aggressor number one” and was conducting hybrid warfare against the United Kingdom and its allies.

The Trump administration has maintained that the president is looking for opportunities to secure peace. “I think, actually, Putin wants to make a deal more than Zelensky,” Trump said on Monday.

However, the source said there had been no indication since Trump returned to office last year that Putin had softened his demand that Ukraine surrender critical eastern territory not captured by Kremlin forces. Zelensky has opposed such a settlement.

Tom Keatinge, director of the Center for Finance and Security at the Royal United Services Institute in London, told CNN International on Thursday: “Donald Trump is putting his electoral position ahead of the security, the safety, the lives of Ukrainian people, and this should not be lost on viewers and on policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic.”

The current clash recalls an earlier episode in US-Ukraine relations. In a 2019 phone call, Trump used the prospect of military assistance to press Zelensky to open an investigation involving Joe Biden and his son Hunter, a move that led to Trump’s first impeachment.