'Energy ceasefire': Trump points to Ukrainian strikes, Zelensky says Kyiv holds fire
Asked about Russian violations, Trump dodged. Zelensky says Ukraine has not attacked Russian energy facilities since the truce was announced.
Archive image · Photo: Maksim Sidorov / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 (cropped and resized)
U.S. President Donald Trump declined to accuse Russia of breaking the energy ceasefire he announced. Asked whether Russia had violated it, he said, "I'll let you know about that later," adding: "Well, Ukraine hit many sites the day before," the Kyiv Independent reported. When announcing it, Trump had said the truce was in place "because I said they agreed." Hours after the Oct. 11 announcement, Russia struck Kharkiv's CHP-5 power plant.
Zelensky said on Oct. 13 that Ukraine had not struck Russian refineries or energy infrastructure since the announcement, but Russia had. He said Russia carried out more than 200 strikes on electricity and transmission facilities and 17 on gas and oil sites over the past week, killing more than 150 people. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia wants "long-term peace" but did not address the truce, and Moscow has not formally responded.