Donald Trump declared an immediate energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine on Sunday, telling both sides to comply. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, reached by Axios within minutes, said the announcement was “news for me”.
Trump wrote on Truth Social: “Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed. Do not break it!” Zelenskyy said Ukraine would accept such a ceasefire if Russia did, and asked Trump to say when it would begin: “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.”
Shortly after Trump’s post, Zelenskyy said, Russia hit a power plant in Kyiv with a drone. He said the strike caused power outages in the capital and the north-eastern Kharkiv region. Zelensky said the Russian strikes came “after the president of the United States made his statement about an energy ceasefire”.
The claimed truce followed Trump’s decision to temporarily ease US sanctions on Russian diesel. On Friday, Trump said he had reached a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to buy diesel from Russia. The move was intended to bring down high fuel prices before the US midterm elections next month. It also undercut fresh sanctions Trump had signed only weeks earlier to damage Russian energy revenues funding the war.
Trump has said Ukrainian attacks on Russian diesel facilities contributed to a global diesel shortage. He and Zelenskyy argued this week over those strikes. Zelenskyy had said Ukraine would stop hitting Russian oil refineries if the Kremlin reduced its own attacks on energy infrastructure.
On Saturday, Trump accused Zelenskyy of seeking to “make problems for the world” by continuing to authorise attacks on Russian refineries. He also said it was “time for Ukraine to get a new president”. Zelenskyy said he would hold elections if Russia agreed to a 60-day total ceasefire.
The sanctions easing brought outrage in Europe and Kyiv. Seven senators, including three Democrats and four Republicans, said Trump’s diesel arrangement “runs directly counter” to a law that explicitly banned Russian energy imports. Republican Senator Thom Tillis told NBC News that the deal “absolutely will” put American lives at risk.
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