Trump announces Russia-Ukraine 'energy ceasefire'

Zelenskiy says Trump's post was his first news of the deal

WASHINGTON/ KYIV:

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Ukraine and Russia had agreed to what he described as an "energy ceasefire", hours after Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy had pushed back against US pressure for a unilateral end to strikes on Russian refineries.

In a social media post, Trump said the energy ceasefire would take effect immediately, but did not elaborate further.

In an interview with Axios, Zelenskiy said Trump's post was the first he had heard of the deal, though a senior Ukrainian official told Reuters that Ukraine was ready to agree to such a ceasefire if Russia was.

Trump, whose war in Iran has been blamed for high diesel prices that are weighing on Republicans' prospects at next month's midterm elections, had previously announced an energy ceasefire in Ukraine in mid-September, though neither side ever confirmed such an agreement was reached.

"Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed. Do not break it!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Earlier on Sunday, Zelenskiy had repeated Ukraine's long-standing position that it was willing to halt attacks on Russian refineries but only if Moscow ceased its own strikes on Ukrainian power infrastructure.

Any such deal would need to come with "real guarantees", Zelenskiy said.

"The real cause of the war in Europe is Russia and Russia alone," Zelenskiy said. "It's possible to stop strikes on energy infrastructure as early as today, but Putin does not want to do so."

In a dramatic deterioration in their relations, Trump on Saturday had warned Zelenskiy that he had "better damn well stop" attacking Russian refineries.