The «energy truce» between Ukraine and Russia announced by US President Donald Trump actually relates primarily to a cessation of mutual strikes on oil refineries, rather than on the entire energy infrastructure. Trump is demanding that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy halt attacks on Russian oil refineries, whilst the issue of protecting Ukrainian power stations and electricity grids is to be discussed only at a later stage. At the same time, Russia has not yet agreed even to a limited truce.
The White House has clarified what Trump’s ceasefire means
11 October Donald Trump announced an immediate energy truce between Ukraine and Russia, stating that both countries had agreed to cease mutual attacks. However, a White House spokesperson later explained to Axios journalists that the US initiative primarily involves a cessation of attacks on oil refineries. According to him, if the parties halt strikes on oil refineries, the next step could be negotiations to bring an end to attacks on power stations and the electricity grid.
Consequently, the initial phase proposed by Washington does not guarantee an immediate halt to Russian strikes on Ukrainian power generation and transmission facilities. Moreover, a source speaking to Axios stated that Russia is currently only considering the US proposal. There is no final agreement from Moscow on a ceasefire.
Ukraine has one oil refinery, whilst Russia has an extensive network
According to a Ukrainian official, There is now only one oil refinery left in Ukraine, which is not operating at full capacity due to repeated Russian attacks. Russia, on the other hand, has an extensive network of oil refineries, which have been targeted by Ukrainian long-range strikes in recent months.
The Ukrainian side emphasises that the country imports diesel and petrol, whilst the main priority remains the protection of the electricity grid from Russian attacks.
Ceasing strikes exclusively on oil refineries will not provide a comparable level of protection for Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure.
Trump is furious over Ukraine’s strikes on Russian oil refineries
According to a White House spokesperson, Donald Trump is extremely dissatisfied that Ukraine continues to attack Russian oil refineries, despite his calls not to do so. The US President believes that these strikes are affecting fuel prices in the US and complicating his negotiations with Moscow.
The US administration has also threatened to restrict the mechanism for procuring American weapons for Ukraine through the programme PURL, unless Kyiv stops its attacks on Russian oil refineries.
Russia continued its attacks after the ceasefire was announced
Following Trump’s statement, Russian troops continued to attack Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported an attack on energy facility in Kharkiv, which took place after the US President had already declared a ceasefire.
The Ukrainian leader confirmed Kyiv’s willingness to halt attacks on Russia’s energy sector, but stressed that Moscow must take a similar step.
Despite Trump’s public statement that an agreement had been reached, the actual implementation of the energy truce remains unconfirmed.
