6 minWorld
Zelenskyy Accuses Putin of Defying Trump's Energy Ceasefire Push
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Fox News that Russia continued striking Ukraine's energy infrastructure despite President Donald Trump's announced immediate energy ceasefire, accusing Vladimir Putin of rejecting Washington's peace efforts and calling for greater pressure on Moscow.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Vladimir Putin of defying President Donald Trump's push for an immediate energy ceasefire, saying Russia continued attacking Ukraine's gas and power infrastructure even after Washington announced the deal. In a live interview with Fox News on Monday, Zelenskyy said Kyiv was ready to honor the truce but questioned whether Moscow would follow suit.
«We are ready today for energy ceasefire, as President Trump said. But I'm not sure that Putin is ready because even after yesterday's messages from the president about energy ceasefire, Putin attacked our gas infrastructure,» Zelenskyy told Bill Hemmer on «America's Newsroom.» Asked directly whether Ukraine would observe the ceasefire, he answered, «Of course,» insisting that Kyiv had already refrained from striking Russian energy facilities overnight.
Trump announced Sunday on Truth Social that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an immediate halt to attacks on energy facilities. But Moscow has not confirmed accepting such an agreement, and the precise scope of the proposal remains disputed. According to Axios reporting Sunday, a White House official said the proposal initially focused on halting attacks on oil refineries, with a broader ceasefire covering power plants and electricity grids potentially following. The official acknowledged that Russia had not yet agreed.
Zelenskyy described the overnight strikes as Putin's direct response to Trump's initiative. «It was his answer to President Trump. He attacked our energy infrastructure,» he said. «The communication from Russia was very clear that they don't know anything about energy ceasefire.» He added that Ukrainian forces did not attack any energy objects on Russian territory because of Trump's announcement, but that Russia struck gas stations, energy infrastructure and other targets.
The interview also exposed tensions over Trump's repeated criticism of Ukraine's attacks on Russian oil refineries, which he argues contribute to higher global fuel prices. On Friday, Trump announced an agreement with Russia to release diesel supplies to U.S. and global markets, a decision that drew criticism from lawmakers concerned about providing Moscow with additional revenue. Zelenskyy challenged Trump's assessment of what is driving diesel prices, pointing instead to disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz. «Everybody understands that the price on diesel doesn't depend on our attacks on diesel in Russia,» he said. «Everybody understands that it depends on the blocking of Hormuz Strait.»
When pressed on whether Ukraine would halt attacks on Russia's extensive oil-refining network, Zelenskyy gave a conditional commitment. «If Russia will not attack our energy, we will not attack the energy,» he said. He argued that a ceasefire limited to refineries would fail to address Ukraine's greatest vulnerability: its electricity supply. «When we speak about energy ceasefire, it means only one thing: that they don't attack our energy infrastructure and we don't respond to their energy infrastructure. This is called energy ceasefire,» he said.
The Ukrainian leader also responded to Trump's weekend criticism suggesting Ukraine needed a new president, arguing that Kyiv had missed opportunities to reach a negotiated settlement with Russia. «If President Trump wants to change the leader in Ukraine, he has to know that only our people can change,» Zelenskyy said. He said he was willing to organize elections but argued that voting remained impossible without a substantial pause in hostilities. «I'm ready for elections. Really, we need a minimum 60 days for security of infrastructure to prepare for elections,» he said. «We are speaking about thousands of drones, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, how can people vote? It's not even about the law. The law is very important. But we speak first of all about security.»
Zelenskyy said he last spoke directly with Trump in New York during the U.N. General Assembly in late September. The interview came after another series of Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities and residential areas. Ukraine's charge d'affaires in Washington, Denys Sienik, said Sunday that Russian forces struck a power plant in Kyiv, disrupting electricity and water supplies, before attacking a thermal power plant in Kharkiv following Trump's announcement. «In total, over the course of the week, Russia struck electricity generation and transmission facilities more than 200 times,» Sienik wrote on X on Oct. 11, 2026.
East2West News agency reported Monday that three civilians — a 16-year-old boy and two women, ages 19 and 51 — were killed in a strike near a grocery store in the Kharkiv region. The agency also reported that five people were wounded in an attack on a residential high-rise. In Pisochyn, a woman described witnessing the bombardment of a power plant shortly after Trump's announcement, according to East2West.
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