Trump's Ukraine "energy ceasefire": Zelensky says Russia hit six energy sites within hours, Kremlin won't confirm the deal

Key takeaways

• On Sunday, 11 October, Donald Trump said Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an "energy ceasefire" — no strikes on each other's power and fuel infrastructure — "effective immediately". He gave no details.
• On Monday, Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had struck six Ukrainian energy facilities since the announcement, with 33 people injured. Ukraine's grid operator Ukrenergo reported new power cuts in Kharkiv, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia.
• The Kremlin would not confirm it had agreed to anything; spokesman Dmitry Peskov said only that "contacts are ongoing". Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Zelensky does not "deserve a respite".
• Trump insisted the truce stands: asked why the sides agreed, he said "because I said, 'You agree'", and added there had been "violations on both sides".
• On Monday evening a Russian drone hit a high-rise in Kyiv. Zelensky said two people were killed and nine injured; Kyiv's mayor earlier gave one dead and 11 injured.

What Trump announced

Trump's short social media post on Sunday said "both parties" had agreed to stop attacking energy targets and warned: "Do not break it!" It came two days after he announced a deal to import Russian diesel into the US to bring down fuel prices before next month's midterm elections — a move Zelensky had called "a gift" to Vladimir Putin.

This is not the first such announcement. CBS News and AP note that Trump made similar claims in January and on 14 September; in both cases strikes on energy sites continued.

What Ukraine says

Zelensky said Ukraine had not hit Russian energy sites since Trump's post and was ready to "guarantee the energy ceasefire", but that Russia had not taken matching steps. In a post on his official X account he wrote that "there is no indication that Russia is complying". He also told Fox News that diesel prices depend on the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, not Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries.

NPR reports that while Ukrainian officials say they have respected the call so far, Ukraine did strike large Yandex data centres inside Russia, causing service outages there.

What Russia says

Moscow has not confirmed any deal. Russia's state news agency TASS, quoted by NPR, did confirm that Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak agreed to supply 300,000 tonnes of diesel to the US in October, and that Washington issued a general licence for Russian diesel exports until 7 April 2027.

The pressure on Kyiv

• CBS News, citing a European and a Ukrainian official, reports the Trump administration has threatened to pause intelligence sharing and halt the PURL weapons-purchase scheme unless Ukraine stops deep strikes on Russian energy. The Financial Times first reported this. These claims come from unnamed officials and have not been confirmed on the record.
• A bipartisan group of six US senators, four of them Republicans, urged the administration to reverse the Russian diesel deal, saying Congress banned Russian energy imports in 2022.
• EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas welcomed an energy truce "when it holds" but said the bloc had not yet seen that Russia would stick to it.

Why it matters for Pakistan and India

Oil prices are already high because of conflict in the Middle East. Brent crude rose about 2% to roughly $106 a barrel on Monday, according to Reuters figures carried by The Express Tribune, as Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia outweighed hopes of more supply. Any real pause in energy strikes — or its collapse — feeds into the fuel bills of import-dependent countries like Pakistan and India.

What to watch

• Whether the Kremlin formally accepts or rejects the energy ceasefire.
• A possible meeting of the European "Coalition of the willing", which Zelensky says Germany is organising.
• Whether Washington acts on reported threats to cut intelligence or weapons support to Ukraine.