Trump announces an energy truce with “immediate effect” between Ukraine and Russia

The president of the United States, Donald Trump, announced this Sunday, in a brief publication on his social network, that Russia and Ukraine have "accepted" an "energy ceasefire", which comes into force "with immediate effect." The announcement of the truce, of which no details have been given and which has not been confirmed by either party, comes in the same week in which Washington has signaled a new approach to the Kremlin and has intensified criticism of the leader of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, whom Trump blames for the fuel shortage in the world due to his bombings against Russian infrastructure.

In the first reaction to Trump's announcement, Zelensky declared to the Axios portal that he was unaware of the existence of this ceasefire, although he added that he will accept it if his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, agrees to it. "The announcement of the truce has been a surprise to me. But if the Russians accept an energy ceasefire, Ukraine will also accept it. If President Trump has negotiated it with Putin, let him tell us when it starts: we are prepared and we will accept it," the American media quoted him as saying.

Cornered by a historic high in the price of diesel in the United States, Trump has been looking for weeks for alternatives to solve the problem before the midterm elections, on November 3. On Friday, after a call with Putin, he announced that they had agreed that Moscow would “immediately” release 300,000 tons of diesel to the US and global markets, in addition to “another 500,000 tons during the month of November and one million tons immediately after.”

The agreement marked a change in the policy of international isolation by the United States towards Russia since the country invaded Ukraine in 2022. It was also contradictory to a law approved last month on Capitol Hill, promoted by the late senator and Trump advisor Lindsay Graham, which gave the White House powers to implement trade sanctions against Russia and Iran. Specifically, the law ordered Trump to act against major importers of Russian oil and gas.

But his distancing from Ukraine did not stop here. This Saturday, he turned his back on Zelensky in statements in front of the press, which indicated a new setback in the bilateral relationship, which the Ukrainian leader has been working on since he was shouted out of the White House at the beginning of last year. “I suggest they find a new leader who can make a deal” to stop the war with Russia, Trump said. “Zelensky could have reached many agreements and, for some reason, he never reaches them.”

Following these statements, the president of Ukraine has kept up with Trump during an interview this morning with ABC News, in which he insisted that he will continue attacking Russian refineries as long as Moscow does not stop its attacks. "When it comes to energy, I have said it to President Trump, his team and his representatives on several occasions. We want peace," Zelensky said. "We are willing to have a ceasefire. We are willing to start with any type of de-escalation measure."

Shortly after, he said on the social network X that “Ukraine will be willing to stop attacking Russian oil refineries if Russia stops attacking our energy infrastructure.” And he insisted: “It is possible to stop the attacks against energy infrastructure today, but Putin does not want to do it.” In this way, there will only be a ceasefire if it is “reciprocal” and backed by “real guarantees.”

During the interview with ABC News, Zelensky even stated that, if Putin commits to a 60-day ceasefire, he will call elections in his country. “Please tell Putin: give us two months, 60 days of total ceasefire, 60 days, and we will organize elections.” Ukraine should hold elections in 2026, but since it is under martial law, the elections cannot be called.