Trump announces Russia-Ukraine energy ceasefire after dispute with Zelenskyy

President Donald Trump said Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an immediate “energy ceasefire,” shortly after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv would stop striking Russian oil refineries if Moscow stopped attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. The terms of the ceasefire were unclear.

“Both parties have agreed. Do not break it!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. His announcement did not specify which facilities or attacks the ceasefire covered.

The announcement followed a sharp exchange over Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries and a U.S. deal to buy diesel from Russia. On Saturday, Trump called for Zelenskyy’s replacement, accusing him of worsening diesel prices and failing to reach a peace deal.

“I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal because he could have made many deals and for some reason he never does,” Trump said. He said he had urged Zelenskyy not to hit refineries: “He better damn well stop.”

Zelenskyy pushed back Sunday, saying Russia alone was responsible for the war. “Ukraine will be ready to stop striking Russian oil refineries if Russia stops striking our energy infrastructure,” he wrote on X. Any de-escalation would have to be reciprocal and backed by real guarantees, he said.

“It is possible to stop strikes on energy infrastructure as early as today, but Putin does not want to do so,” Zelenskyy wrote, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Speaking on ABC News’ “This Week,” he said Ukrainians “want peace” and were ready to begin with “any kind of steps of de-escalation.”

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha defended Zelenskyy, saying Ukrainians had the right to choose their leader. “Statements from abroad only confirm that he is doing his job well,” Sybiha wrote on X.

Trump said Friday that he had reached a deal with Putin to buy diesel from Russia. According to CBS News, he said the United States would buy more than 300,000 tons right away, followed by 500,000 tons in November and 1 million tons after that. The deal was intended to address high fuel prices ahead of November’s midterm elections, CBS News reported. Zelenskyy criticized it, saying Russian export revenue would help fund Moscow’s war.

The dispute unfolded as aerial attacks continued. A Ukrainian drone strike Sunday halted operations at a Yandex data center in Vladimir, east of Moscow, the third attack on the Russian technology company’s facilities in four days, CBS News reported. Yandex said the site was damaged but no one was injured. Citing the independent Russian outlet Astra, CBS News reported that users in dozens of Russian cities and in Kazakhstan, Belarus and Armenia could not order taxis or access banking services. One Moscow resident told CBS News that a page on the Yandex Market shopping platform was unavailable when he tried to check an order.

Zelenskyy said a Russian bombing Saturday killed 23 people, including four children, in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia. More than 30 people were wounded, according to an official cited by CBS News. Local officials said a Ukrainian drone strike killed one man and wounded two women in Russia’s Bryansk border region Sunday.

The clash adds to a history of public friction between Trump and Zelenskyy. Al Jazeera reported that the two argued during a February 2025 Oval Office meeting about security assurances and negotiations with Russia. Trump also criticized Zelenskyy that year over his refusal to recognize Russian control of Crimea as part of a potential peace deal.