US President Donald Trump said Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to halt strikes on each other’s energy infrastructure.
“Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine,” the president wrote on his Truth Social network.
Trump continued: “Both parties have agreed,” before urging restraint from both Kyiv and Moscow: “Do not break it!”
Zelenskyy: Energy ceasefire ‘news for me’
There was no immediate confirmation from Moscow, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the news site Axios within minutes of Trump’s post that the ceasefire was “news for me.”
“The ceasefire announcement was news for me. But if Russians agree to an energy ceasefire, Ukraine will agree. If President Trump negotiated it with Putin, please tell us when the ceasefire begins; we are ready and we will accept it,” he told Axios.
In a social media post later, Zelenskyy said a drone had hit a Kyiv power plant, leading to power outages in the capital.
The Ukrainian leader had earlier repeated his stance that Ukraine would stop hitting Russian oil refineries if the Kremlin curbed its energy attacks.
Trump and Zelenskyy have argued this week over Ukraine’s attacks on Russian diesel facilities, which the US president said have contributed to a global diesel shortage, rather than the Iran war.
Trump needs lower fuel prices before midterms
Trump said Friday he had struck a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to buy diesel from Russia.
The controversial move was an attempt to bring down high fuel prices ahead of the US midterm elections next month.
However, this move undercuts fresh US sanctions Trump signed just weeks ago to further hurt Russian energy revenues funding the war.
Backing Zelenskyy in the Trump row, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that she “fully supported” the call for a “ceasefire that protects global food supplies and energy infrastructure in Ukraine and Russia.”
“And my full support for President Zelenskyy as he leads the fight for his people’s freedom,” she wrote online.
On X, UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said his country “strongly supports” Trump’s call for a “sustained energy ceasefire to start now,” which he said Kyiv was ready to honor “if Russia stops its attacks.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said his country backs a “real energy ceasefire,” but lamented that “Russia continues to refuse that.”
After earlier denouncing the Trump-Putin deal, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he supported the energy ceasefire, in a phone call with Trump, his office said.
Blackouts and refinery strikes
Russia has repeatedly struck Ukraine’s power plants and transmission lines around Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa and elsewhere, to lower civilian morale, especially during the winter months.
Recently, Ukraine has stepped up long-range strikes deep inside Russian territory, targeting major oil refineries and other facilities to curb Moscow’s refining capacity and fuel supplies.
Kyiv on Sunday pressed on its campaign against Russian infrastructure, hitting a data center run by Russian technology giant Yandex.
It was the third strike on the company’s facilities in four days.
Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru
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