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President Donald Trump’s announcement Sunday that Ukraine and Russia reached an “energy cease-fire” clearly jumped the gun, but he’s absolutely right to be pushing hard for such a deal.
That is, as long as the accord halts attacks on all energy facilities.
“Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine,” the prez boasted on Truth Social, but there wasn’t.
A cease-fire is “news to me,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky quipped.
Russia’s Vladimir Putin issued his denial in the form of fresh strikes on Ukrainian energy sites.
It’s possible Trump was misled by Moscow saying it’d be fine with a ban on striking refineries , since that would shield Putin’s assets while leaving him free to continue attacks meant to leave much of Ukraine’s civilian population freezing this winter.
Ending that threat is why Zelensky says he’s willing to abide by an all-encompassing energy cease-fire, if Russia does as well.
Indeed, targeting Russia’s vast network of refineries, slamming Putin’s revenues and giving his civilians a small taste of Ukrainians’ suffering, is Kyiv’s measured response to Moscow’s savagery.
Trump hopes to end the carnage and also show US voters that he’s striving to bring down their energy costs.
All this might partly explain Trump’s decision to buy diesel from Russia, even though Mad Vlad could use the proceeds to prolong the war if the deal doesn’t tempt him into a true energy cease-fire.
The prez might need to quit with the carrots and try a few sticks, such as the tariffs allowed under the new Lindsey Graham sanctions law.
Yes, Europe also needs to cut off its dependence on Russian gas imports; over the past year, it showered Russia with $9 billion for its gas, per Energy Live News.
That’s more than twice what Trump’s deal envisions for the diesel purchases.
We’re puzzled when Trump lashes out at Zelensky, when Putin’s the one who keeps failing to live up to his word — or, at least, whose words prove to not mean what they seem to promise.
Ending or even pausing this war has always meant getting Putin to bend, and that still looks to require more sticks.