Trump Says Ukraine and Russia Both Agreed to Stop Hitting Energy Targets. An Hour Later, Zelenskyy Said Kyiv Is 'Not Convinced' Moscow Will Honor Anything, and the Kremlin Confirmed Nothing.

President Donald Trump announced on Monday that Ukraine and Russia had both agreed to stop striking each other's energy infrastructure, a claim that neither government confirmed and that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy publicly reframed within the hour as a conditional offer rather than a deal. "Ukraine has agreed not to hit Russian Energy targets. Russia has agreed to do, likewise!" Trump wrote on Truth Social. In the same post he insisted that "The World's Diesel price rise is mostly caused by the Russia/Ukraine War, not Iran."

Zelenskyy responded on X and Telegram roughly an hour later with language that stopped well short of an agreement. "If our partners are ready to ensure that Russia genuinely refrains from striking our electricity system, other energy facilities, critical infrastructure, and food supply routes, then, of course, we are ready to ensure a corresponding halt to our strikes," he wrote. But he added that "Ukraine is not convinced that Russia is willing to abide by any agreement," and said any pause would have to be "reliable, long-term" and must not "fall apart after the Russians hold their 'elections' and get an easing of pressure on gasoline and diesel precisely for that period." He closed by saying Kyiv was "waiting for details from our partners."

The Kremlin issued no confirmation. An unnamed Ukrainian energy official told the Kyiv Independent they had no knowledge of any energy ceasefire. The most recent public Russian position came from spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Sept. 10, who dismissed a Ukrainian proposal on the same subject as an attempt to win a truce in Ukraine's "Achilles' heel" without offering "a permanent settlement that would fully align with Russian interests." Moscow has spent three winters targeting Ukraine's power grid; Kyiv's drone campaign against Russian refineries this year has been effective enough that Moscow banned diesel exports, a ban that expires at the end of September.

Trump's announcement followed days of pressure on Kyiv over fuel prices. Over the weekend he told reporters, "Zelenskyy has to do one thing. He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia," and administration officials asked Ukraine directly to stop hitting diesel-producing sites. The U.S. average price of diesel crossed $6 a gallon for the first time on Friday and reached a record $6.23 on Monday, as Saudi Arabia shut its East-West oil pipeline after drone attacks and Brent crude climbed above $109. The Strait of Hormuz, which carries about a quarter of the world's seaborne oil trade, has been throttled since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in late February.

The president's attempt to shift blame for fuel costs onto Ukraine drew immediate fire from Democrats seven weeks before the midterm elections. "Everyone knew Trump's Iran war would disrupt the Strait of Hormuz and skyrocket costs," California Gov. Gavin Newsom said. The timing is also awkward for Kyiv. On Sunday a Russian drone struck an evacuated passenger train near the Polish border shortly after a delegation that included former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and former CIA Director David Petraeus had used the same line; German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius called that strike "a calculated escalation." Ukraine's chief of staff, Kyrylo Budanov, said Saturday that Kyiv is preparing for three-way talks with Washington and Moscow in October.

For now, the only party asserting that a deal exists is the White House. Zelenskyy's statement makes clear that Ukraine will stop only if Russia verifiably stops first, and that it wants Western guarantees rather than a Truth Social post to enforce it.