US President Donald Trump has said Russia and Ukraine have agreed to an “energy ceasefire” that is “effective immediately”, a claim Kyiv has said it would back but on which Moscow has so far remained silent.
Trump offered no details about the arrangement.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky initially reacted with surprise to the announcement, before saying Kyiv would support it provided Moscow did too. He also accused Russia of striking Ukrainian energy facilities after Trump’s post.
Trump has been pressing Ukraine to halt strikes on Russian oil infrastructure — which Kyiv describes as essential to curtailing revenue for Moscow’s war machine — so that Russia can honour a recently agreed deal to release diesel to the US and the global market.
That diesel deal, which temporarily undoes sanctions on Russian imports, is drawing growing criticism. Zelensky called it a gift to Russian President Vladimir Putin. European officials and some US politicians, including members of Trump’s Republican party, have said they do not support it.
The deal is Trump’s latest attempt to bring down domestic fuel prices ahead of the midterm elections, after months of grappling with the political consequences of the war with Iran, which has pushed up global fuel prices, particularly those for diesel.
The higher pump prices and the knock-on effects that led to across-the-board inflation have soured Trump’s standing with the American public.
Zelensky told news site Axios that an energy truce being in effect was “news” to him, before writing on social media that his 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,” he said.
The BBC has asked the White House for further details.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Britain “strongly supports President Trump’s call today for a sustained energy ceasefire to start now”, while France, Canada and the EU also expressed support.
Zelensky later said Russia had hit a power plant in Kyiv with a drone, causing power cuts, followed by strikes on 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,” he said.
Ukraine and Russia have been exchanging strikes on energy infrastructure for months.
Moscow has said the installations it hits are legitimate targets because they support Ukraine’s military operation, while Zelensky has characterised Ukrainian attacks deep inside Russian territory as part of an effort to “reduce Russia’s ability to finance the war”.
The attacks have disrupted energy supplies on both sides.
Earlier on Sunday, UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting told the BBC that the UK did not support the diesel deal, while EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas echoed Zelensky’s criticism of it on Saturday.
The deal has also attracted criticism from politicians of both main US parties.
Seven senators, including three Democrats and four Republicans, have published a statement saying Trump’s deal “runs directly counter” to a law that had explicitly banned Russian energy imports.
“Congress was clear: the US should not import oil from Russia until it ends its aggression against Ukraine and ceases threats against our Nato Allies,” they said, urging the Trump administration to “reverse course”.
Republican Senator Thom Tillis, one of the seven, told NBC News that the deal “absolutely will” put American lives at risk.
On Saturday, after the Ukrainian leader criticised the diesel deal, Trump accused Zelensky of wanting to “make problems for the world” by continuing to authorise attacks on Russian refineries.
The US president suggested it was “time for Ukraine to get a new president”.
Zelensky pledged to hold elections — despite them being suspended by the Ukrainian constitution during wartime — if Russia agreed to a 60-day total ceasefire.
The Ukrainian president had previously resisted US calls for fresh elections, pointing to complications with holding a vote in parts of the country that are active war zones or under Russian occupation.
Trump, however, has repeatedly accused the Ukrainian leader of using the war to stay in power.
Meanwhile, strikes and fighting on the ground continue in the four-year-long war.
Six people were killed in attacks on two Ukrainian cities on Sunday, regional officials said.
Officials said one person was killed in Russia’s Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, while another man was killed in a drone attack in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region.
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