Donald Trump has tweeted that both Russia and Ukraine have agreed to an "energy ceasefire" in the war between the two countries.
In an October 11 post on X and Truth Social, Trump said it would be “effective immediately”, but provided few details.
Ukraine’s president Volodomyr Zelenskiy quickly responded to Trump's announcement, saying during an interview with Axios 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 [Russian leader Vladimir] Putin – please tell us when the ceasefire begins – we are ready and we will accept it," Zelenskiy was reported as saying.
Russia was yet to comment.
Earlier on October 11, responding with remarks to ABC’s “This Week” after Trump said the time had come for Ukraine to get a new president with Zelenskiy failing to strike possible deals to end the war, Zelenskiy said: "Please tell Putin, give us two months, 60 days of total ceasefire, 60 days, and we will organise elections."
Trump’s full tweet regarding the energy ceasefire on X was: "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, ahead of the US midterm elections set for early November, has been calling on Ukraine to stop its strikes on Russian oil infrastructure, saying that the disruption caused was pushing up world fuel prices. Kyiv has refused, saying the military action against Russian refineries and other energy facilities is essential in reducing revenue the Kremlin can earn to finance its war machine.
The weekend brought a shock for Ukraine as Trump announced a deal to import millions of tonnes of diesel from Russia to help push down US prices at the pump, following a phone call with Putin.
Kyiv denounced the deal, saying the US would be helping to pay for Russia’s continuation of its war if it went ahead.