STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Leaders in Europe do not like President Trump's latest moves in the war in Ukraine.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Yeah. Trump demanded that Ukraine stop its attacks on Russian oil refineries. Trump also said that there was a ceasefire on attacks against energy infrastructure, which neither Ukraine nor Russia seem to know about. The president also lifted sanctions on Russian diesel fuel, even as Europeans impose new sanctions on the Russian military complex.
INSKEEP: Teri Schultz is following all this from a European security conference in Warsaw, Poland. Welcome.
TERI SCHULTZ: Thank you.
INSKEEP: So what is it about the president's statements that concerns allies of Ukraine?
SCHULTZ: I think there's just really no faith in these moves by the White House, Steve. You know, President Zelenskyy spoke here remotely in Warsaw and said that even as this ceasefire was announced by President Trump, Ukrainian oil refineries were being bombed. So European officials and experts treated this basically as one more attempt by the White House to pressure Ukraine in favor of Russia. Now, one of the strongest reactions came from Trump's former Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, who shared what he would advise Zelenskyy to do in quite colorful language.
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KEITH KELLOGG: I'd burn down every one of the goddamn refineries that Russia has today. Take them all out. And I said (ph), you make them pay the price. You take it home. It's a military target. Take those targets out.
SCHULTZ: Now, Kellogg left his position in January and has been pretty outspoken about his support for Kyiv since.
INSKEEP: OK. So how are Europeans responding to this other development? The United States has very high diesel fuel prices, and the president suddenly announced an agreement of some sort for the U.S. to buy diesel fuel from Russia.
SCHULTZ: More of the same from the European perspective, but in the meantime, the European Union even intensified its efforts to stem the Kremlin's war effort. Now, it takes a long time to tee up sanctions, so this is not in reaction specifically to these latest U.S. moves, but the EU just imposed its largest-ever package of sanctions against almost 1,600 individuals and companies related to Russia's military industry. And while it appears that no one knew in advance about Trump's diesel deal, analyst Majda Ruge from the European Council on Foreign Relations says it wasn't exactly a surprise.
MAJDA RUGE: Trump's personal desire for economic reset with Russia and announcing business deals has really been the only consistent element of Trump's Russia-Ukraine policies.
INSKEEP: Let me come back to this security conference where you're at. What are NATO officials saying, the North Atlantic alliance?
SCHULTZ: Well, there's a lot of concern in Europe about U.S. plans to withdraw troops and military assets. So U.S. Air Force General Alexus Grynkewich - he's NATO's supreme allied commander Europe - used this conference to make sure there's no misunderstanding in Moscow that NATO's resolve is weakening. He unveiled what he called the theory of victory, describing how NATO would use its entire range of capabilities to respond to any attack.
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ALEXUS GRYNKEWICH: Our alliance exists to preserve peace, but let there be no doubt, should war come, we will block, blunt any attack. And then if it does not cease, we will break the forces conducting aggression against us. We're rehearsed, and we're ready.
SCHULTZ: And Grynkewich's speech comes as Europe is experiencing an increasing number of Russian threats, including sabotage, cyberattacks and disinformation. And that's in addition to the concerns about the U.S. commitment. So this speech was definitely meant to reassure allies that NATO's got things covered in all contingencies.
INSKEEP: Teri Schultz is reporting from Warsaw. Thanks so much.
SCHULTZ: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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