President Trump claimed on Monday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to halt attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure, though a later statement from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested that no such deal had actually been reached yet.
“Ukraine has agreed not to hit Russian Energy targets. Russia has agreed to do, likewise!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. His post came a day after he called on Ukraine to halt attacks on Russia’s “diesel fuel,” though Ukraine’s drone attacks on Russian energy infrastructure are known to be supported by US intelligence.
The president appears to be attempting to shift the blame for rising global energy prices on the war in Ukraine rather than his war with Iran, even though the escalation of Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure that began last year was also the result of decisions made in Washington.
“The World’s Diesel price rise is mostly caused by the Russia/Ukraine War, not Iran,” Trump said in his Truth Social post.
Later in the day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested that his forces were ready to halt attacks on Russia’s “critical infrastructure” if Moscow refrained from targeting Ukrainian infrastructure.
“There is now a strong US proposal for a mutual halt to strikes on critical infrastructure. If this can become the first de-escalatory step – a step toward ending Russian strikes on our critical infrastructure and our strikes in response – then Ukraine is ready to support de-escalation,” Zelensky said in his nightly address.
So far, Russia hasn’t responded to Trump’s post, but earlier in the day, the Kremlin said that it “welcomed” Trump’s call for Ukraine to stop targeting Russia’s diesel infrastructure.
