WTI crude oil prices are up 0.70 cents and they have been bid all week, in part because of reports suggesting that Russia is losing oil exporting capacity due to drone attacks.
The Kremlin could have much bigger problems ahead if this latest WSJ report is true:
President Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky he was open to lifting restrictions on Ukraine’s use of American-made long-range weapons to strike inside Russia, but he didn’t commit to doing so during a meeting Tuesday, according to a senior U.S. official and a Ukrainian official.
During the sideline discussion at the United Nations, Zelensky asked Trump for more long-range missiles and approval to use such weapons to strike targets on sovereign Russian territory. Trump replied that he did not oppose the idea, though both officials said the president didn’t make any commitments to reverse a U.S. ban on such attacks.
Now I strongly suspect this isn’t a true leak but is being put out there to pressure Russia to negotiate. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a real threat.
Zelensky asked for Tomahawk missiles with a range of 2400 km. They are also highly accurate systems that could be used to hit energy infrastructure, which appears to be the west’s strategy in economically defeating Russia.
