US President Donald Trump announced an “energy truce” in the war between Russia and Ukraine on Sunday – shortly afterwards, the Ukrainian leadership accused Moscow of a violation. Both countries had agreed to stop their attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure, Trump declared on Sunday, 11 October, on his online service Truth Social. The truce would take effect “immediately”. He initially gave no further details, as reported by Spiegel and Frankfurter Rundschau, among others.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reacted with surprise: he knew nothing of such an agreement, he told the US news outlet Axios. Kyiv was, however, prepared to observe a truce if Moscow also adhered to it. There was initially no statement from the Kremlin.
Attacks despite the announcement
That same evening, Zelensky reported new Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities. Zelensky reported on social networks of an attack on a power plant in Kyiv with a Shahed drone. Later there were further attacks on energy facilities in the Kharkiv region in north-eastern Ukraine. “And all of this happened after the President of the United States made his statement about an energy truce,” he added.
According to local authorities, six people were injured, including a child, in an attack with drones and glide bombs on the city of Kharkiv. Zelensky reported a hit on a combined heat and power plant. In his evening video address, he left open whether the attack occurred before or after Trump’s announcement. The information could not be independently verified.
Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha accused the Kremlin of a clear violation of the limited ceasefire. “Russia violated the energy ceasefire immediately after it came into force,” he wrote on X. According to his own statement, he informed German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul about the attack.
Doubts in Moscow too
Apparently not everyone in Russia was in the know either. The Ukrainian outlet UNN reported that evening that Igor Ananskikh, deputy chairman of the Russian energy committee in the State Duma, had known nothing of the agreement beforehand. In an interview with UNN, he questioned the credibility of the US President’s statements: “We all know that Trump often tries to prevent rising oil prices. So-called verbal interventions. I don’t know how much of it corresponds to reality.”
It is not the first time Trump has claimed such an energy ceasefire. As early as 14 September, he had announced a corresponding agreement – it was confirmed by neither side, and the attacks continued unabated. In response to Russian missile and drone attacks, Ukraine has for months been increasingly attacking refineries and oil depots in Russia. These attacks have long been a thorn in Trump’s side.
According to a report in the Financial Times, which Handelsblatt picks up on, the US is even threatening, citing European circles, to block weapons deliveries in order to force an end to Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries. The government in Washington wanted to suspend the procurement system for weapons systems and was working in European capitals and in Kyiv to prevent further advances.
Pressure from Washington, signals from London
Only the day before, Trump had demanded Zelensky’s replacement. “I think it’s time that Ukraine gets a new president,” he said. Zelensky had repeatedly had the chance to end the war and had decided against it. Previously, Trump had announced a diesel deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin: Russia was to immediately provide more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel for the US and global markets, with a further 500,000 tonnes to follow in November and then another million tonnes after that.
In return for a 60-day, complete ceasefire, Zelensky offered elections in Ukraine. “Please tell Putin: give us two months, 60 days of a complete ceasefire – 60 days – and we will organise elections,” he told the US broadcaster ABC. His citizens must be guaranteed safety during the elections. His regular term of office expired on 20 May 2024; due to martial law, it has been extended indefinitely under the constitution.
Support for the truce came from London: British Prime Minister Andy Burnham promised Ukraine tougher sanctions against Russia in a phone call with Zelensky and called for an energy ceasefire, as the British government seat Downing Street announced. Both agreed to meet in person soon.
Zelensky stated on the platform X that he had spoken with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte about Trump’s initiative. “Ukraine supports the truce, but it is important that Russia does too,” he wrote. “We are now waiting for the details from the American side.” In his evening address, he said: “Ukraine wants peace. The question is whether Russia wants it.”
Editor’s note: Whether the truce announced by Trump actually holds cannot be assessed on the basis of the available sources. The latest attacks and the contradictory signals from Moscow and Kyiv suggest that the agreement has so far not been implemented.
