Trump Insists Energy Ceasefire Holds as Ukraine Accuses Russia of Fresh Strikes
Theo Al Jazeera
President Donald Trump insists Russia and Ukraine have agreed to halt strikes on energy infrastructure, but Ukraine says Moscow has hit at least six energy facilities since the ceasefire was announced. Russia's foreign minister has rejected any pause in fighting, while European allies approved a major new sanctions package.
US President Donald Trump said on October 27 that Russia and Ukraine have agreed to stop attacking each other's energy infrastructure, and called on both sides to end what he described as an "absurd" war. The claim came even as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces had struck at least six Ukrainian energy facilities since Trump announced the ceasefire on Sunday, October 26.
"They agreed," Trump told reporters, referring to Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. "Because I said, 'You agree.' That's why they agreed, because I said they agreed." Asked about the Russian strikes, Trump said: "I'll have to take a look, because there have been violations on both sides."
The White House occupant called the war, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a "disaster," and claimed — without providing evidence — that at least 32,000 people had been killed in this month alone. "What I know is that Zelenskyy and Putin have to meet and end that absurd war," he said.
Kyiv caught off guard
Trump caught Kyiv and its European allies by surprise when he announced the energy ceasefire on Sunday. The announcement came two days after he temporarily eased US sanctions on Russian diesel — a move that caused outrage in Europe and Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said the move reversed years of Western efforts to isolate the Russian economy and would only encourage Putin. Lawmakers from both major US parties also said the diesel decision appeared to violate US law. Some Republicans objected that it undermined legislation Trump himself had signed to tighten restrictions on Moscow.
On Monday, Zelenskyy said Ukraine supported the energy ceasefire and had not carried out any attacks on Russian refineries overnight. He said Kyiv was ready to sign "guarantees to make sure that they can be trusted." However, he stressed it was "increasingly clear" that Moscow would not comply.
"Today alone, the Russians struck six energy facilities in Ukraine. Thirty-three people were wounded across the country," Zelenskyy wrote on social media. "This is what happens when Russia sees the prospect of increased revenue for its war machine."
Russia, however, has rejected any pause in the fighting, with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov vowing to continue the military campaign. "I don't think he deserves a rest," he said of Zelenskyy. "I don't think we will again accept guarantees and promises." Lavrov added that Russia would continue to pursue the objectives of what it calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine.
US midterm elections
Trump, meanwhile, portrayed Ukraine, rather than Russia, as the main obstacle to peace. He said Putin wanted a deal more than Zelenskyy did, and called on Ukrainians to vote their president out of office — an unusually sharp shift in a relationship that has been strained since Trump returned to the White House in 2025.
Al Jazeera correspondent Alan Fisher, reporting from Washington, DC, said Trump had previously announced deals between Russia and Ukraine that never materialised. "He says he wants to protect US industries like farmers and ranchers, and to do that he needs prices to come down. But he seems to think there is a deal, when no one else is sure there really is one," Fisher said.
According to the correspondent, the latest announcement appeared to be driven by Trump's desire to bring down diesel prices ahead of the US midterm elections on November 3. Most polls predict Republicans will lose control of Congress as voters grow increasingly frustrated with rising prices, especially fuel.
An opinion survey published on October 1 by the Associated Press and the University of Chicago found that 65 percent of American adults blamed the White House for the high cost of living, particularly Trump's tariff policies and the new war against Iran.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's European allies voiced scepticism about the energy ceasefire and approved the European Union's largest sanctions package since Russia's 2022 invasion. Foreign ministers of the bloc added around 1,569 individuals and businesses to the sanctions list to maintain pressure on Moscow.
"Russia will only negotiate seriously when it is under pressure, which is why we are persisting with sanctions against Russia," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in Berlin.
