Trump’s ‘energy ceasefire’: Kyiv backs it if Moscow does, Russia silent
Zelenskyy said Russia struck a power plant in Kyiv and energy facilities in the Kharkiv region after Trump’s announcement, which came with no details.
Donald Trump said on 11 October that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an “energy ceasefire”; Kyiv said it would support the move if Moscow did, but Moscow had yet to comment when BBC News reported.
The US president said the ceasefire was “effective immediately”. He gave no details of what it covers or how it would work.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy first told the news site Axios that it was “news” that an energy truce was in effect. He then wrote on social media that Kyiv’s officials “look forward to clear details of America’s dialogue with Russia”. “Ukraine is ready not to strike at Russian energy and we count on Russia’s similar readiness and on the agreement of the president of the United States of America on this,” the Ukrainian leader said.
Later, Zelenskyy said Russia had hit a power plant in Kyiv with a drone, causing power cuts, and then struck energy facilities in the north-eastern Kharkiv region. “All of this happened after the president of the United States made his statement about an energy ceasefire,” Zelenskyy said.
The announcement comes after criticism of a diesel deal Trump agreed with Russia, which temporarily undoes sanctions on Russian imports. Trump has been urging Ukraine to stop strikes on Russian oil infrastructure so that Russia can deliver diesel to the US and the global market. Kyiv says those strikes are vital to cutting the money Moscow has for the war. Moscow says the installations it hits are legitimate targets because they support Ukraine’s military operation.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Britain “strongly supports President Trump’s call today for a sustained energy ceasefire to start now”. France, Canada and the EU also expressed support. Earlier on 11 October, Defence Secretary Wes Streeting had said the UK did not support the diesel deal.
Strikes and fighting continued in the four-year war. Regional officials said six people were killed in attacks on two Ukrainian cities on 11 October, while one person was killed in Russia’s Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine.
