President Donald Trump said Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an "energy ceasefire" in the 4 1/2-year-old war, but he offered no details on it and Kyiv reported attacks by Moscow on energy sites after his statement. Trump's brief social media post said only that the ceasefire took effect immediately, adding: "Do not break it!" Moscow did not immediately comment. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that while his country "welcomed" the announcement by Trump as "good news for everyone," Russia was still hitting energy infrastructure in Kyiv and in the city of Kharkiv.
"Unfortunately, Ukrainian skies have been infested with Russian 'shaheds' all day today," he said in an evening address, referring to drones launched by Moscow . "There have been glide bomb strikes and strikes on our energy infrastructure too. A power plant in Kharkiv was attacked this evening." The presidential office confirmed the Kharkiv attack came after Trump's ceasefire post.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine was "ready to refrain from striking Russian energy infrastructure — and we count on the same readiness from Russia." Russia has sought to deny Ukrainian civilians power, heat and running water during the war, hoping to wear down public resistance to Moscow's full-scale invasion. Ukrainian officials describe the strategy as "weaponizing winter." Zelenskyy said Ukraine has proposed many de-escalatory steps but Russian President Vladimir Putin "had one answer to all of them — 'nyet.' We do hope that he will finally say something different to America, Ukraine, and the entire world." He said Kyiv is maintaining contact with the U.S., and he thanked Americans for their support. He said on X that he had spoken about the development with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
In an interview broadcast earlier Sunday, Zelenskyy said Kyiv was ready to stop striking Russian refineries if Moscow halted attacks on Ukraine's energy system, and he asked Trump to press the Kremlin to agree. "We are asking President Trump, (to) give them (a) signal, not (to) attack energy infrastructure of Ukraine," he told ABC's "This Week ." On Sept. 14, Trump claimed on social media that both countries had agreed "not to hit" each other's energy infrastructure but offered no details on that proposal either. While Zelenskyy had said Ukraine was ready to comply if Russia did, nothing came of the proposal.
Trump said Saturday it was time for Ukraine to get a new president, suggesting Zelenskyy has not done enough to end the war and blaming him for high diesel prices in the U.S. Zelenskyy said in response to Trump's comments that Ukraine could hold elections if Russia agreed to a 60-day ceasefire. "Give us two months, 60 days off.
Total ceasefire, 60 days, and we will organize elections," he said, adding that Ukraine would be ready to accept whatever choice its people made. "With all respect to President Trump, it's up to our society, up to our people to choose one or another leader," he said. Holding an election during the war would be unlawful and that Ukraine would need security guarantees to allow for safe voting, Zelenskyy added.
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