President Donald Trump claimed Sunday that Ukraine and Russia have agreed to an “energy ceasefire” as part of the ongoing conflict. There was no immediate confirmation from Moscow, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reportedly said this “was news for me.”
Trump made a similar announcement a month ago, only for the two sides to continue their aerial attacks on each other’s energy facilities.
“Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday morning. “Both parties have agreed. Do not break it!” He did not elaborate further on what the ceasefire might include.
Zelenskyy told Axios that he knew nothing about a ceasefire deal.
“But if Russians agree to an energy ceasefire Ukraine will agree,” Zelenskyy said, according to Axios. “If President Trump negotiated it with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin — please tell us when the ceasefire begins — we are ready and we will accept it.”
NBC News has reached out to Zelenskyy’s office for further comment.
It follows a dramatic few days in which Trump agreed to a diesel deal with the Kremlin, demanded Kyiv halt attacks on Russian oil refineries and called for Zelenskyy to be replaced. The shift left Kyiv and its European allies reeling.
U.S. & World
The U.S. agreed Friday to lift sanctions on Russian fuel in a deal that Trump said would see Russia “immediately” release 300,000 tons of diesel “to the American and global marketplace,” followed by 500,000 tons in November and another million after that.
After strong criticism from Zelenskyy, Trump said Saturday: “I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal, because he could have made many deals.”
Trump has sought to blame the Ukraine conflict, rather than his own assault on Iran, for a global fuel shortage that has driven diesel prices to record highs since the U.S. launched the Middle East war in February.
Zelenskyy reiterated Sunday that he was ready to halt strikes on Russian refineries if the Kremlin halts its own attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. He also told ABC News he would hold elections if Russia agreed to a 60-day ceasefire.
Zelenskyy said “it’s up to Ukrainians” to choose their leader and noted that Putin would also like to change who is leading Ukraine.
He said it is easy for Ukraine to be blamed for higher fuel prices “when everybody in the world understands [that] because of the war in [the] Middle East, the prices are rising.”
Reuters contributed.
from NBC Chicago https://ift.tt/RSOC9Lp
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