Trump announces energy ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia
Photo: REUTERS / Kevin Lamarque
US President Donald Trump has once again claimed that attacks on energy infrastructure in Ukraine and Russia have been halted.
The US president announced this in a post on his social network, Truth Social, Rubryka reports.
In the post, Trump declared the start of what he called an energy ceasefire and urged Ukraine and Russia to abide by its terms.
"Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine.
Both parties have agreed. Do not break it! Thank you for your attention to this matter," Trump wrote.
Photo: Truth Social / Donald Trump
According to Trump, both sides agreed to the proposed arrangement.
However, neither Ukraine nor Russia has confirmed that such an agreement has been reached. In particular, in an interview with Axios, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that Trump's announcement came as "news" to him.
However, he said Ukraine would also agree to an energy ceasefire if Russia agreed to it.
"If President Trump has agreed on this with Putin, please tell us when the ceasefire will begin. We are ready and will accept it," Zelenskyi stressed.
On October 9, US President Donald Trump said that he had spoken by phone with Russian ruler Vladimir Putin and reached an agreement on supplying Russian diesel fuel to the US and global markets.
In response, Zelenskyi said that easing sanctions on Russia without lasting de-escalation agreements would only help Moscow continue the war. He was responding to Trump's decision to allow sales of Russian petroleum products. The US president described the arrangement with the Kremlin as beneficial to the United States and said he wanted to thank Putin for it.
Zelenskyi noted that strikes by Ukraine's Defense Forces on Russian oil refineries and other oil facilities are a response to the Kremlin's years-long campaign of attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure. However, the president said Ukraine would not "burn down" Russian oil refineries if Russia stopped these attacks.
Meanwhile, talks between Ukrainian and US representatives in Miami on ending Russia's war against Ukraine concluded earlier than planned. No meetings will be held on the second day.
In September, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a UN Security Council meeting that Russia would not suspend hostilities during negotiations aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
