U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that Ukraine and Russia have agreed to a ceasefire on attacking each other’s respective energy industries, which have increasingly become targets as the war on the frontline has largely devolved into a stalemate.
In a post on Truth Social on Sunday morning, President Trump wrote: “Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed. Do not break it!”
The announcement, the scope of which has yet to be clarified by the White House, came hours after Mr Trump engaged in a public spat with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Speaking from the White House lawn on Saturday, Trump suggested the Ukrainian people should replace Zelensky with a leader “who can make a deal”, hinting that his counterpart in Kyiv has been the main stumbling block to a peace deal with Russia.
The president’s comments came after Zelensky sharply criticised a deal struck between Washington and Moscow on Friday that would immediately allow hundreds of thousands of tonnes — and eventually millions of tonnes — of Russian oil to enter global energy markets to cut pump prices.
Zelensky claimed that such a deal would only serve to swell the coffers of the Russian war machine and to launch further attacks on Ukraine.
For several months, Kyiv has ramped up its targeting of Russian energy infrastructure with long-range drone and missile strikes under the premise that oil exports are key to funding the war effort and therefore justifiable military targets.
Earlier this month, Ukraine’s Defence Ministry claimed its strikes have taken 51 per cent of Russia’s oil refining capacity offline, with refineries in Moscow, Perm, Saratov, Syzran, Ust-Luga, and Yaroslavl purportedly suffering heavy damage.
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