America just threatened to cut off Ukraine's intelligence over refinery strikes

America just told Ukraine it could lose its intelligence.

So what happened? Donald Trump's two envoys sat down with Ukraine's delegation in Miami two days ago. The talks ran almost eight hours.

And partway through, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner gave Ukraine a warning.

A Ukrainian official told Axios what the warning was. Donald Trump could cut off Ukraine's access to US intelligence. The reason? Ukraine keeps hitting Russian oil refineries, and Washington wants it to stop.

Here's why that matters so much. Ukraine uses that exact intelligence to carry out those long-range strikes. Take it away, and the strikes get a lot harder.

But a US official tells a different story. No threat was made, the official says. Witkoff and Kushner were just reminding Ukraine that America is a reliable partner, supplying weapons and intelligence. And that Ukraine shouldn't do things that hurt American consumers.

So here's the twist. Both sides agree on the actual words said in that room. They just disagree on what to call them.

Now, why were refineries even on the table? A day earlier, Donald Trump had called Vladimir Putin. And announced a deal. Russia would send up to three million tonnes of diesel fuel to the US and world markets.

Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's President, was furious. He called it not fair and not honest. An unwarranted gift to Vladimir Putin. He went further too, saying it was a weak decision made by strong partners that only emboldens Putin.

And here's why Washington even wants the strikes to stop. Ukraine's refinery attacks have caused a real energy crisis inside Russia. Bad enough that Russia banned its own diesel exports.

A US official says that's exactly why Donald Trump made the deal with Putin in the first place. Zelensky had ignored around half a dozen American requests to stop hitting the refineries. The same official put it bluntly, saying quote "the attacks on the refineries cause pain in Russia, but it causes pain for the U.S., too".

Zelensky did offer something back. He said he'd stop hitting Russian refineries if Russia stopped hitting Ukraine's power plants.