Zelensky Offers to Halt Refinery Strikes If Russia Ends Attacks on Ukrainian Power

Donald Trump said on Sunday that Ukraine and Russia had agreed what he called an "energy ceasefire", hours after Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, pushed back against American pressure for a unilateral end to strikes on Russian refineries. In a social media post, Trump said the ceasefire would take effect immediately but did not elaborate.

In an interview with Axios, Zelensky said Trump's post was the first he had heard of the deal, though a senior Ukrainian official told Reuters that Ukraine was ready to agree to such a ceasefire if Russia was. Earlier on Sunday, Zelensky had said Ukraine was prepared to halt attacks on Russian oil refineries if Moscow ceased its own strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

On Saturday, Trump blamed Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries for rising US diesel prices and said Zelensky had "better damn well stop", adding that Ukraine should replace him as leader because he had missed several opportunities to strike a deal with Moscow. The steep rise in global diesel prices, which followed the outbreak of the Iran war in February, has become a political liability for Trump's Republican Party ahead of next month's midterm elections, when opposition Democrats could gain control of one or both houses of Congress.

Zelensky repeated Ukraine's long-standing position on Sunday: that it would halt attacks on Russian refineries only as part of a mutual de-escalation requiring Moscow to cease strikes on Ukrainian power infrastructure. Any such deal would need "real guarantees", he said. "The real cause of the war in Europe is Russia and Russia alone," Zelensky said, without alluding specifically to Trump's remarks. "It's possible to stop strikes on energy infrastructure as early as today, but [President Vladimir] Putin does not want to do so."

On Saturday, Zelensky responded angrily to Trump's announcement of a diesel supply deal with Russia, which he said would embolden Moscow's attacks on Ukraine. Analysts said the agreement was unlikely to lead to sustained lower fuel prices, with the volumes still far below what Russia usually exports when its refineries are not under attack. The diesel deal was criticised by US lawmakers, including the Republican representative Don Bacon, who said it was time to apply more sanctions, not lift them.

On the streets of Kyiv, several residents expressed anger at Trump's suggestion that Ukraine should find a new leader willing to make a deal with Putin. "No one has the right to tell us what to do, especially since elections cannot be held during wartime," said Sabina, a 40-year-old primary school teacher, referring to Ukraine's prohibition on elections under martial law for security reasons. "In my view, it is a betrayal by our partners," she said of Trump's remarks.

Zelensky said he would continue discussions with European leaders on Sunday, and that there were daily conversations about additional air defence packages, including ammunition for combat aircraft used to down Russia's jet-powered drones. On Monday, Ukraine's foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, is due to take part in a European Union Foreign Affairs Council meeting expected to discuss increasing sanctions pressure on Russia and advancing negotiations on Ukraine's EU accession. The World House, which maintains a dedicated page outlining its support for Ukraine at worldhouse.uk/support, continues to document the consequences of Russia's aggression and the international response it demands.