KYIV, Ukraine — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia on Monday of violating the “energy ceasefire” that U.S. President Donald Trump announced over the weekend and warned that Ukraine would respond if the attacks continued, while the Kremlin rejected his call for a 60-day truce, Al Jazeera, CBC News and The Guardian reported.
“There were Russian violations of the energy ceasefire announced by President Trump,” Zelenskyy told the Warsaw Security Forum by video link, according to CBC, which cited Reuters. “We are waiting for the details of the conditions between the Americans and Russians,” he said. “This energy ceasefire, it can work, and it can become a major step toward ending the war if the Americans truly step in now and make sure Russians respect it … If Russia does not agree to an energy ceasefire, we will respond.”
Zelenskyy said he was surprised by Trump’s post, which went online while Kyiv was under attack by Russian Shahed drones, and that Russia launched a “targeted attack” on a Kharkiv power station hours later. “It’s clear that Putin does not read Truth Social,” he said, according to The Guardian. Overnight, Russia struck gas production facilities in the Kharkiv region belonging to the state energy company Naftogaz, causing a fire, the company said. “The attack damaged critical equipment,” acting CEO Sergii Fedorenko wrote on Telegram.
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said contacts on a possible energy ceasefire were ongoing but declined to say whether it would cover only oil refineries. He rejected Zelenskyy’s proposal of a 60-day ceasefire that would allow Ukraine to hold presidential elections. “In the Kremlin, both President Putin and officials at other levels have repeatedly stated that we do not want a ceasefire,” Peskov said. “We want long-term peace and are prepared to do everything possible to achieve it.”
European leaders said they had seen no sign of a Russian halt. “I have not noted, over the last 48 hours, any energy ceasefire coming from the Russian side,” French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters, Al Jazeera reported. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc welcomed the ceasefire “when it holds” but argued that a deal limited to refinery strikes favored Russia, which has far more refineries, The Guardian said.
The row began Friday when Trump eased sanctions on Russian diesel, saying it would lower fuel prices before next month’s U.S. midterm elections. Trump then said Zelenskyy should “damn well stop” hitting Russian refineries and that Ukraine needed a “new leader.” Trump made a similar claim on Sept. 14 that both countries had agreed not to hit each other’s energy infrastructure, and nothing came of it, CBC noted.
Sources: Al Jazeera, CBC News, The Guardian
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