Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has blamed Russia for breaking a purported “energy ceasefire” announced by Donald Trump, signalling that Kyiv will continue its strikes unless Moscow halts its attacks.
The US president wrote on his Truth Social platform on Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an “energy ceasefire”, in a claim that blindsided officials in Kyiv.
Speaking at the Warsaw Security Forum on Monday, Zelenskyy said Trump should have come to him to cut a “diesel deal”, adding that Russia had used drones and missiles to strike power and gas facilities across Ukraine overnight.
“Immediately after [Trump’s] post, Russia launched a targeted strike . . . It was clear that Putin does not read Truth Social,” Zelenskyy said.
“We are ready to respect an energy ceasefire if Russia is ready to do the same,” he added, including “to sign guarantees” as proof of Ukraine’s commitment.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov did not comment on Trump’s ceasefire announcement, telling reporters on Monday that “contacts” between Russia and the US “continue”. He said Moscow was willing to halt attacks only for a day to allow Ukraine to hold elections. “They need 60 days of ceasefire not for elections, but to regroup, heal their wounds and continue the war,” Peskov said.
Despite Moscow’s overnight strikes, European diesel prices fell on Monday· as traders responded to Trump’s latest effort to drive down fuel prices in the US ahead of November’s midterm elections.
His announcement of an “energy ceasefire” came after the US president on Friday struck a deal with Vladimir Putin for Russia to release more diesel.
The price of diesel — a vital fuel for industry and agriculture — has soared as wars in the Middle East and Ukraine knock out infrastructure and strain global supplies.
Speaking in Warsaw, Zelenskyy said: “Last night, Russian oil refineries were not burning. But at midnight a Russian jet-powered Shahed drone hit a gas plant in Ukraine . . . This is Putin’s answer to Trump.”
Parts of Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine were plunged into darkness on Sunday night into Monday morning following the Russian strikes. Water was knocked out in much of the Ukrainian capital.
Russian drones continued to attack Kyiv on Monday after Zelenskyy’s conference speech, with heavy air-defence fire and explosions reverberating throughout the city.
Sergii Fedorenko, acting chief executive of Ukraine’s state gas company Naftogaz, said that critical equipment was damaged by a Russian jet-powered drone. He said his employees were “doing everything they can to address the consequences of the strike as quickly as possible and prevent any risks to the stable operation of the energy system”.
Vitaliy Bunechko, the governor of Zhytomyr region west of Kyiv, said Russian drones had struck energy and railway facilities there.
Zelenskyy told the Warsaw Security Forum he did not believe the volume of diesel Russia would export as part of Trump’s deal would affect the price.
“Moreover, we see that they can export from 300,000 to 500,000 tonnes a month today. Meanwhile, global consumption stands at 120mn tonnes a month,” he said. “What kind of impact can that have? I don’t think it would have any.”
“If some people think otherwise, so be it,” he said in an apparent reference to Trump. “If this is the approach, then why isn’t America making a ‘diesel deal’ with Ukraine? Let Ukraine propose a ‘diesel deal’.”
Ukraine, Zelenskyy said, through its long-range drones that have attacked Russian oil and gas facilities and shadow fleet ships, had “influence over whether these ships can sail or not, whether these refineries can operate or not”.
He added: “If that’s the case, then let’s do it.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks about the energy ceasefire at the Warsaw Security Forum
The Trump administration had also threatened to stop the procurement system that provided Ukraine with weapons to pressure Kyiv to halt its strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, officials told the FT·.
That followed a warning on Friday from the Trump administration to Zelenskyy’s peace negotiators in Miami that Washington could cut off vital intelligence sharing with Kyiv unless it halts the air attacks against Russian oil refineries.
“We are waiting for the details of the conversation between the Americans and the Russians,” Zelenskyy said. “Putin is so shamelessly trying to sell his refineries to the world as a solution.”
Speaking ahead of Zelenskyy, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Russia “is not interested in de-escalation, ceasefire or peace; they are only interested in domination”.
“It’s every time the same thing: if you propose to Russia a ceasefire . . . it is met with a brutal and arrogant answer. We can have no more illusions about this,” Tusk added.
EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Monday agreed to impose sanctions against about 1,600 additional individuals and entities from Russia’s military-industrial complex.
“If we want to end this war, the only way we can do this is putting more pressure on Russia,” said Kaja Kallas, the EU’s chief diplomat. “We would call on US to put the sanctions in place so that actually we could finish this war and all these effects of attacks on refineries would not be there.”