KYIV, Oct 12 (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia of violating the energy ceasefire announced by President Donald Trump after a strike on a thermal power plant in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and urged the United States to ensure Moscow sticks to any agreement.
Under pressure over high energy prices ahead of US midterm elections next month, President Trump had blindsided Kyiv and its European allies by announcing that Kyiv and Moscow had agreed an energy ceasefire over the weekend. He had also unveiled a deal to buy diesel from Russia, angering Ukraine.
As its officials voiced scepticism over the ceasefire, the European Union urged the US to keep pressure on Moscow and approved new sanctions targeting Russia’s military-industrial complex.
Zelenskiy said he was still awaiting details of the deal, with Kyiv wary of any agreement that it feels could hand Russia an advantage by forcing Ukraine unilaterally to halt attacks on Russian refineries.
“There were Russian violations of the energy ceasefire announced by President Trump,” Zelenskiy told a conference in Warsaw via video link.
“We are waiting for the details of the conditions between the Americans and Russians, and we are waiting to see one specific step the Americans are ready to take,” said Zelenskiy, who said he had learned about the ceasefire deal from the media.
“This energy ceasefire, it can work, and it can become a major step toward ending the war if the Americans truly step in now and make sure Russians respect it.”
Zelenskiy said Ukraine had carried out no attacks on Russian refineries overnight, but he made clear that if Russia wanted Kyiv to suspend these attacks it must stop hitting Ukraine’s energy system and critical infrastructure.
Russia has yet to comment.
The EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she would prefer a ceasefire “which includes people not being killed” and that it was not clear whether Russia would stick to it.
“We would call the US to get the sanctions in place so that we could actually finish the war,” she said at a meeting of foreign ministers in Luxembourg.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he had not seen any signs in the last 48 hours of Russia respecting any form of energy ceasefire deal.
A person familiar with the situation said the US had threatened to cut off intelligence sharing with Ukraine and weapons under the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) system to pressure Kyiv. Under Trump, the United States has already largely stopped supplying Ukraine with weapons but lets European countries buy them on Kyiv’s behalf under the PURL.
Germany’s Minister for Europe Gunther Krichbaum said he expected the US to remain a reliable partner.
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