Trump says Russia, Ukraine agreed to energy truce — Zelensky says he's hearing it for the first time

US President Donald Trump said Sunday (local time) that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to a truce covering the energy sector.

Trump announced on Truth Social that "an energy truce has been reached in the war between Russia and Ukraine," adding that it would take effect immediately. "Both sides have agreed," he said, urging the parties not to violate it.

The "energy truce" Trump described appears to refer to an agreement to halt attacks on energy facilities and related infrastructure. Trump did not specify which targets the truce would cover or how long it would last.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, however, told online news outlet Axios that the announcement was "the first I'm hearing of it," while adding that "if Russia agrees to an energy truce, Ukraine will agree as well." The remarks suggested Ukraine had not yet signed on to any such agreement — contradicting Trump's claim that both sides had already reached a deal.

Russia has also yet to confirm its position. Whether an energy truce actually takes hold will depend on Moscow's response and any follow-through by both sides.

Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly traded strikes on each other's energy infrastructure throughout the war.

Russia launched large-scale missile and drone attacks targeting Ukrainian power plants and electrical grids on Sept. 30 and Wednesday, triggering blackouts in Kyiv and other cities. Ukraine, in turn, has struck Russian oil refineries and other energy facilities with drones, dealing repeated blows to Russia's energy supply.

Of late, Trump has pressed Ukraine hard to stop attacking Russian oil facilities, citing rising global energy prices. Ukraine has maintained that it cannot unilaterally halt such strikes while Russia continues to target its own energy infrastructure.

Against that backdrop, Trump announced Friday that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to supply large quantities of Russian diesel to the United States and global markets, and eased some sanctions on Russia to facilitate the deal. The move was widely seen as an effort to bring down energy prices ahead of US midterm elections in November.

Zelensky sharply criticized the so-called diesel deal, calling it "like a birthday gift to Putin." Trump fired back, saying Zelensky had passed up chances to end the war and that Ukraine needed new leadership capable of reaching a peace agreement. The energy truce announcement came immediately after that public rift between Washington and Kyiv over the Russian diesel supply deal.

Ukraine has signaled it would accept an energy truce on the condition that Russia agrees, but whether Moscow will in fact halt mutual strikes remains the central variable determining whether any truce takes hold and holds.

Earlier, the two countries agreed under US mediation in March last year to halt attacks on energy facilities for 30 days, but strikes continued afterward and both sides accused each other of violating the agreement.

Trump also said on Sept. 14 that Russia and Ukraine had agreed not to strike each other's energy facilities, yet both sides continued such attacks in the weeks that followed.