Kyiv, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that Russia continued to strike Ukraine’s energy facilities even after U.S. President Donald Trump took office. said a day earlier that the countries at war had agreed on an energy ceasefire in the 4 and a half year old war.
Speaking at the Warsaw Security Forum in Poland, Zelenskyy said Ukraine had learned through the media that Trump had reached an energy ceasefire agreement with Russia that would involve a mutual pause in strikes on energy sites. Zelensky said he would be willing to honor such a deal if Moscow did the same.
“We support it, but I have not heard approval of this proposal from Russia,” Zelensky said.
Trump’s brief social media post Sunday saying the so-called deal offered few details but said the energy ceasefire took effect immediately, adding: “Don’t break it!” On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not say whether Russia had agreed to such a ceasefire, saying only: “Contacts are ongoing.”
Zelensky said Ukraine was “horribly surprised” when, following Trump’s announcement, Russia struck numerous energy facilities, including a power plant in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, as well as a gas production facility and a civilian gas station.
“It was clear that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin doesn’t read Truth Social,” Zelensky said, referring to Trump’s social media platform.
Energy strikes caused suffering to both Ukraine and Russia
Trump previously announced a similar agreement to end energy strikes, which did not come to fruition. In a social media post September 14he said the two countries had agreed to “not touch” each other’s energy infrastructure, but provided no details on that proposal either.
Russia resorted to attacks on energy facilities to deprive Ukrainian civilians of electricity, heat and running water during the war, hoping to wear down public resistance to Moscow’s full-scale invasion. Ukrainian officials describe the strategy is to “militarize winter” and fear that Russia could intensify its attacks as cold weather approaches.
Ukraine, meanwhile, has launched strikes against Russian energy sites like oil refineries, sometimes deep within Russian territory. This prompted Trump to accuse Zelensky of being responsible for record diesel prices in the United States – rather than blaming the United States. war in Iran – and to make a deal with Putin Friday to import diesel from Russia in an effort to lower fuel prices ahead of the U.S. midterm elections.
On Monday, Zelensky said kyiv was ready to comply with Trump’s demands to stop hitting Russian refineries if Moscow stopped its attacks on Ukraine’s energy system, and asked Trump to pressure the Kremlin to agree. He added that if Moscow does not agree to an energy ceasefire this winter, “we will respond.”
“We are waiting for the details of the conversation between the Americans and the Russians, and we are waiting to see what specific steps the Americans are willing to take,” he said. “This energy ceasefire can work and become a major step towards ending the war. »
EU foreign policy chief skeptical of energy ceasefire
The European Union’s top diplomat on Monday welcomed the prospect of a pause in energy strikes in Ukraine, but said she saw no signs that Russia would be willing to respect it.
“We have not yet seen that Russia will stick to it too,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers in Luxembourg. “Personally, I would also be happy if the ceasefire ensures that people are not killed, not just energy. »
Trump and Putin’s deal to buy diesel from Russia has dismayed officials in the United States, Ukraine and across Europe. A bipartisan group of six senators, including four Republicans, called the Trump administration Sunday to “immediately reverse course” on the deal, saying the United States should “not provide Putin with a financial lifeline” while Russia kills Ukrainian civilians.
Kallas also pushed back on Trump’s comments Saturday that it was time to Ukraine will have a new president and that Zelensky did not do enough to end the war. She said now is not the time to hold elections in Ukraine, at least not without a ceasefire.
On Monday, Zelensky said holding elections in Ukraine was impossible in wartime, especially with new Russian tactics involving day and night attacks. However, he added that he would be ready to work in this direction if Ukraine obtained a comprehensive ceasefire lasting at least 60 days.
In response, Kremlin spokesman Peskov said in a statement that in the event of Ukrainian elections, Putin would be ready to stop strikes on Ukraine “specifically on election day,” and that kyiv only wanted a 60-day ceasefire “to gather forces, heal its wounds and continue the war.”
Russian attack kills 3, injures others, including children
Two people were injured in Russian strikes on kyiv on Monday, according to the city’s military administration, while falling debris from Russian attacks sparked a fire in a private residential building in the capital’s Darnytskyi district.
Debris also fell in an open area near private residential buildings in Solomianskyi district and on a warehouse in Darnytskyi district, with emergency services dispatched to the scene.
A Russian drone attack on the village of Pisochyn in the Kharkiv district on Sunday evening killed three people and injured nine others, including children, according to the Kharkiv regional prosecutor’s office. Investigators said the attack hit a densely populated area near apartment buildings and grocery stores and sparked a fire.
Ukrainian air defense forces shot down or suppressed 89 of 121 Russian drones overnight Monday, the Ukrainian Air Force said in a Telegram message. The attack involved a Kh-59 air-to-ground guided missile and 76 Shahed-type jet drones, the statement said.
Strikes were recorded on 15 sites in Ukraine, while debris from downed drones fell on four sites.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Monday that its air defenses intercepted 151 Ukrainian drones overnight over Russian regions as well as illegally annexed Crimea and Black Sea waters.
In a separate statement, the ministry said its forces carried out overnight drone strikes on Ukrainian port infrastructure and on a bulk carrier heading to the Ukrainian port city of Odessa with military cargo on board.
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Associated Press writer Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.
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Follow AP coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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