After Putin summit, Trump changed his mind on supporting Ukraine’s strikes on Russian energy targets, sources say

By Zachary Cohen, Jim Sciutto, CNN

(CNN) — The US has increased intelligence sharing with Ukraine to include information on targets deeper inside Russian territory as part of a strategic shift both countries hope will restart negotiations with Moscow that stalled after the summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska this summer failed to produce a peace agreement, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to push Trump for additional long-range weapons capable of striking targets inside Russian territory when he meets with Trump in Washington at the White House on Friday.

Trump has indicated he is open to the idea in the days leading up to Zelensky’s visit, underscoring how his mindset about the war has changed since the Alaska summit.

The shift to provide intelligence with a focus on energy-related sites and facilities that the Trump administration had previously told Kyiv were off limits occurred following Trump’s meeting with Putin at a US military base in Alaska this summer, both sources said. Trump was unable to secure an agreement with Putin that would bring an end to the war.

In the wake of the summit, the US has attempted to increase pressure on Putin including the change in intelligence sharing that the Trump administration hopes will alter the Russian leader’s calculus on continuing the war.

The Financial Times was first to report on US support for Ukraine’s ongoing campaign to target Russian energy infrastructure.

The Trump administration had asked Ukraine to avoid striking Russia’s oil, gas and energy infrastructure ahead of the summit as officials pursued a peace deal with Moscow. But the US gave Ukraine the green light to resume attacks against those targets after both leaders left Alaska without an agreement in hand, one of the sources said.

With US approval, Ukraine has now adopted a deliberate strategy of targeting Russia’s energy-related infrastructure, the source said.
With the front lines effectively frozen, and more than a million total casualties during the conflict, Ukraine believes targeting Russian energy infrastructure is one of the few remaining ways to produce strategic effects, the source added.

“This is a war that never would have happened had President Trump been President, something President Putin himself acknowledged, and President Trump is trying to get it stopped,” a White House official said when asked by CNN for comment on the change in intelligence sharing. “The President also negotiated a historic agreement to allow NATO allies to purchase American-made weapons. We do not have further announcements at this time.”

Putin and Trump had what Trump described in a post on Truth Social as a “lengthy call” on Thursday, the day before Zelensky’s arrival at the White House.

It remains unclear how many more energy-related targets remain unscathed and whether Ukraine maintains the long-range strike capability to successfully destroy facilities located deep inside Russia — datapoints that would help demonstrate whether the current strategy could be ultimately successful. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has suggested that his military needs additional help from the US to do so, repeatedly requesting American-made, long-range weapons in the weeks since the Alaska summit.

Trump has indicated he is open to the idea, recently floating the possibility of giving Ukraine Tomahawk cruise missiles unless Russia dramatically changes its negotiating posture. Ahead of a planned meeting with Trump at the White House on Friday, Zelensky told a group of journalists in Kyiv that the main topics of his conversation will include “air defense and our possibilities with long-range (missiles to put) pressure on Russia.”

On Sunday, the Ukrainian leader was keen to signal Tomahawk use might be closer. “We see and hear that Russia is afraid that the Americans may give us Tomahawks, which is a signal that exactly such pressure may work for peace,” he said.

Trump said Tuesday that Zelensky is coming to the White House on Friday to push for the US to give him long-range Tomahawk missiles, which would allow the country to penetrate deep into Russian territory.

“I know what he has to say. He wants weapons. He would like to have Tomahawks,” Trump told reporters while meeting with his Argentinian counterpart, Javier Milei, at the White House.

When asked Sunday if he would send the missiles, Trump said, “We’ll see … I may,” adding, “I might tell them that if the war is not settled, that we may very well, we may not, but we may do it. Do they (Russia) want Tomahawks going in their direction? I don’t think so.”

A US official stressed that, regardless of what happens, what is most important is providing Ukraine with Tomahawks is under serious discussion.

Trump, himself, has repeatedly expressed amazement about the prospect of Ukraine having the ability to strike Moscow or St. Petersburg, including on recent calls with Zelensky, according to another source familiar with the conversations. During one call following the Alaska summit, Trump asked Zelensky if his military had the ability to hit Moscow or St Petersburg.
The Ukrainian leader responded by saying they could if they had the right weapons, sources told CNN.

In the meantime, the US has increased intelligence sharing and approved a sale of 3,350 Extended Range Attack Munition (ERAM) missiles — which appear to be the first tangible steps Trump has taken to bolster Ukraine’s long-range capabilities following the summit with Putin.

The Trump administration did not place any explicit restrictions on how Ukraine can use those extended-range missiles that were part of a recently-approved $825 million arms sale, according to two US officials familiar with the matter.

The Biden administration similarly did not establish any limitations for how Ukraine could use weapons it provided to Ukraine that were technically capable of striking targets inside Russia, most notably Army Tactical Missile Systems or ATACMs, according to a source familiar with the matter.

But ATACMs offer less range than Tomahawks or ERAMs requiring Ukrainian forces to quickly move and hide the launchers to get them close to enemy lines, the source said. The air-delivered missiles approved by the Trump administration offer more flexibility.

Nonetheless it can still be challenging for aircraft using ERAM missiles to get close to the border because of Russian MiG fighter patrols, the source added, limitations that have fueled Ukraine’s request for Tomahawks and other long-range weapons.

The Tomahawks’ 1,500-mile range and speed mean they only make sense evading air defenses and striking valuable infrastructure deep inside Russia. The Kremlin has suggested US personnel would have to operate such sophisticated weaponry, and that Tomahawks can be nuclear capable – saber-rattling that weaponizes fears around unintentional escalation.

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