Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Monday his country would support a mutual halt to strikes on critical infrastructure, but his remarks appeared to fall short of the full agreement U.S. President Donald Trump had claimed hours earlier.
Trump wrote on social media Monday that Ukraine and Russia had agreed not to hit each other’s energy targets. Zelenskiy, in his nightly address, called it “a strong proposal from the United States” and said Ukraine was prepared to back de-escalation if it meant Russian strikes on Ukrainian critical infrastructure stopped and Kyiv’s strikes on Russian territory stopped in return. But he stopped short of endorsing Trump’s characterization of a done deal, saying Ukraine wanted concrete guarantees that Moscow would also spare Ukrainian energy facilities, broader infrastructure and food-supply routes — and made clear Kyiv remains skeptical Russia will actually honor any such arrangement.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine’s strikes on Russia’s energy sector, which have included refineries deep inside Russian territory, are visibly straining Moscow’s war economy, and argued that pressure should continue unless a credible, lasting Russian commitment to end the fighting materializes. He said that so far, he sees no genuine sign Russia wants to move toward ending the war.
The exchange comes as Trump has pressed Kyiv to scale back attacks on Russian fuel infrastructure, blaming the strikes for a diesel shortage inside Russia and for contributing to rising global oil prices ahead of U.S. midterm elections in November. Moscow had not immediately responded to Trump’s claim of an agreement. Russia has continued to intensify strikes on Ukraine’s rail network in recent weeks, according to Ukrainian officials, even as U.S. envoys have shuttled between Moscow and Kyiv this month without announcing a breakthrough toward a broader ceasefire.
