Trump claims energy ceasefire as Ukraine reports fresh Russian strikes

President Donald Trump declared on Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to stop attacking each other's energy infrastructure. By Monday, as he fielded questions from reporters, the claim was already unraveling. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that Russian forces had struck at least six energy facilities since Trump's announcement, wounding 33 people across the country. When pressed about these contradictions, Trump offered a shrug: he would need to look into it, he said, because there had been violations on both sides.

The president's confidence in the agreement rested on a simple formula. "They agreed," he told reporters, "because I said, 'You agree'. That's why they agreed, because I said they agree." He called the war itself a disaster and claimed, without evidence, that at least 32,000 people had been killed in October alone. He urged Zelenskyy and Putin to "get together and end that ridiculous war."

The ceasefire announcement had caught Kyiv and its European allies off guard. It came just two days after Trump temporarily eased US sanctions on Russian diesel—a move that provoked outrage across Europe and Ukraine. Zelenskyy warned that the decision reversed years of Western efforts to isolate Russia's economy and would only embolden Putin. Lawmakers from both parties in Congress objected that the diesel move appeared to violate US law and contradicted restrictions Trump himself had signed into place.

On Monday, Zelenskyy said Ukraine supported an energy ceasefire and had launched no attacks on Russian refineries overnight. He said Kyiv was willing to sign guarantees to prove its commitment. But he also said it was "increasingly evident" that Moscow would not comply. The Russian strikes that day made his point concrete: six facilities hit, dozens wounded, and the war machine grinding forward.

Russia rejected any pause entirely. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said he did not think Zelenskyy deserved a respite and dismissed assurances and promises as untrustworthy. Russia would continue pursuing what it calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine, Lavrov said, without interruption.

Trump has portrayed Ukraine, not Russia, as the main obstacle to peace. He has said Putin is more eager for a deal than Zelenskyy and has called on Ukrainians to vote their president out of office—a notably harsh turn in a relationship already strained since Trump returned to the White House in 2025. Reporting from Washington, a correspondent noted that Trump has previously announced agreements between Russia and Ukraine that never materialized. The president, he suggested, appears to believe a deal exists even when no one else is certain one does.

The timing points to domestic politics. Trump has said he wants to protect American farmers and ranchers by bringing down diesel prices. A poll published October 1 by the Associated Press and the University of Chicago found that 65 percent of US adults blame the White House for high living costs, particularly Trump's tariff policies and his conflict with Iran. Republicans face losing control of Congress in the November 3 midterm elections as voters grow frustrated with rising prices at the pump.

Europe responded with skepticism and steel. Ukraine's allies approved the largest set of European Union sanctions since Russia's 2022 invasion, adding 1,569 people and businesses to the bloc's sanctions list. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Russia would only negotiate seriously under pressure, which is why Europe was maintaining its sanctions against Moscow. The message was clear: the West would not ease its grip based on Trump's say-so alone.