US President Donald Trump announces Russia Ukraine 'energy ceasefire'
US president Donald Trump on Sunday announced that both Russia and Ukraine have agreed on immediate "energy ceasefire" and warned them to not break it."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," said Trump in a Truth Social post.
However, Ukranian president Zelenskyy told Axios that this "ceasefire" was "news to him" but Ukraine will agree if Russia does too.This comes after attacks on energy infrastructure became a central point in the conflict as Trump criticised Zelenskyy for "not ending the war" but the Ukraine president shifted the blame on Russia.Earlier, Trump had said, "We told Zelenskyy, 'You can do whatever you want to Russia, but don't hit the refineries because that's a world problem.' And what does he do? He goes and hits the diesel fuel. He better damn well stop." He also blamed Zelenskyy for continued war and even went on to say that it was time for Ukraine to get a new president. “I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal because he could have made many deals and for some reason he never does,” Trump said.
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy said on X, “Ukraine will be ready to stop striking Russian oil refineries if Russia stops striking our energy infrastructure."“It is possible to stop strikes on energy infrastructure as early as today, but (Russian President Vladimir) Putin does not want to do so,” he added, while stating that any de-escalation must be reciprocal and backed by real guarantees.In a separate development, Trumop on Friday announced that US struck a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to buy diesel from Russia in an attempt to address high fuel prices ahead of the midterm elections.Also read: US treasury secretary defends Russia diesel deal, cites 'legal authority