Russia has rejected a proposed 60-day ceasefire in Ukraine while Kyiv accused Moscow of continuing attacks on power infrastructure despite Donald Trump’s announcement of an “energy ceasefire”.
The Kremlin said it welcomed the US position on Ukraine but insisted that it wanted a comprehensive peace agreement rather than a temporary suspension of hostilities.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian strikes hit a power plant in Kyiv and energy facilities in the Kharkiv region after Mr Trump claimed that both sides had agreed not to attack energy infrastructure.
“And all of this happened AFTER the President of the United States made his statement about an energy ceasefire,” Mr Zelensky said in a post on X.
He said a Shahed drone had struck a power plant in Kyiv, causing outages in several districts, before further attacks were reported in Kharkiv. The Ukrainian presidential office confirmed that the Kharkiv attack took place after Mr Trump’s announcement.
Mr Zelensky said Ukraine was ready to stop targeting Russian energy facilities if Moscow did the same. “We count on the same readiness from Russia,” he said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that discussions about a possible energy truce were continuing, but declined to clarify whether any arrangement would cover only oil refineries.
Mr Trump announced the agreement in a social media post on Sunday, warning both sides: “Do not break it!” Mr Zelensky said the proposal was “news for me”, but added that Kyiv would accept it if Russia did so too.
The dispute followed a sharp exchange between the US president and his Ukrainian counterpart over a planned deal to import Russian diesel into the United States. Mr Zelensky called the agreement a “gift” to Vladimir Putin and said it amounted to “an investment in a war that must be ended, not prolonged”.
Mr Trump responded by accusing Mr Zelensky of creating problems for the world by continuing to authorise attacks on Russian refineries. “He’d better damn well stop,” he said, suggesting that Ukraine should “get a new leader who can make a deal”.
Russia rejects 60-day ceasefire proposal
Mr Zelensky has proposed a 60-day total ceasefire to allow Ukraine to hold presidential elections. But Mr Peskov said Russia did not want a temporary truce.
“We want long-term peace and are prepared to do everything possible to achieve it,” he told reporters.
Mr Zelensky told US television that Ukraine would organise elections if Russia agreed to halt fighting for two months. Elections are prohibited under Ukrainian law while martial law remains in force, and he said security guarantees would be needed for voting to take place safely.
Russia has repeatedly argued that the expiry of Mr Zelensky’s formal term in May 2024 makes him an illegitimate leader. Ukraine’s constitution allows him to remain in office until a successor is sworn in.
Washington has been pressing European governments and Kyiv to stop attacks on Russian oil refineries. Officials said the US had threatened to halt intelligence sharing and the mechanism used to procure American weapons for Ukraine unless Kyiv ended the strikes.
The reported pressure comes days after Mr Trump said Russia would supply almost two million tonnes of diesel to the US over the coming months, followed by further deliveries. Six US senators, including four Republicans, called on the administration to abandon the plan, arguing that it would provide Moscow with financial support while Russian forces continued killing Ukrainian civilians.
Ukraine and Russia have continued a long-range aerial campaign while their armies remain largely deadlocked on the frontline. Kyiv has also claimed responsibility for drone attacks on facilities belonging to Yandex, which caused disruption to the technology company’s services in Russia and several other countries.
Mr Zelensky said the latest Russian attacks showed that Moscow had not accepted the proposed energy truce. “There have been glide bomb strikes and strikes on our energy infrastructure too,” he said. “A power plant in Kharkiv was attacked this evening.”
Britain supports calls for a sustained energy ceasefire, Andy Burnham said. “Russia has intensified its strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure over the weekend,” he wrote, describing the attacks as an assault on civilians that had plunged them into “cold and darkness”.
