US President Donald Trump has announced that Russia and Ukraine have agreed to stop attacking each other’s energy infrastructure, following his criticism of Kyiv over strikes on Russian oil refineries.
Trump disclosed the purported agreement on Monday in a post on his Truth Social platform, claiming that both countries had committed to refraining from attacks on energy-related facilities.
“Ukraine has agreed not to hit Russian Energy targets. Russia has agreed to do, likewise!” Trump wrote.
The US president also linked the recent rise in global diesel prices to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, arguing that the conflict, rather than the war involving Iran, was largely responsible for the increase.
“The World’s Diesel price rise is mostly caused by the Russia/Ukraine War, not Iran,” he added.
Ukraine’s presidency declined to comment on Trump’s announcement, while Russia had not immediately responded to the claim.
Trump’s statement comes as oil prices continue to rise amid the seventh month of the conflict involving Iran, raising concerns about fuel costs and inflation in the United States ahead of the November midterm elections.
The US president had on Sunday criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a visit to Ireland, calling on him to stop attacks targeting Russian diesel infrastructure.
Trump argued that the strikes were contributing to diesel shortages and said there were other targets Ukraine could pursue.
“Let him go after targets, but not diesel fuel, because he’s causing a shortage of diesel,” Trump said.
He also disclosed that he had discussed Ukraine’s intensified attacks on Russian energy facilities with Zelensky.
“There are plenty of other targets. Don’t hit diesel fuel because that’s hurting. That’s hurting the world. We don’t want him to hit diesel fuel… He’s hitting diesel refineries.”
Ukraine has carried out attacks on several Russian oil refineries located deep inside Russian territory, while Moscow has intensified its long-range attacks in recent months, with the escalation contributing to increased civilian casualties.
Kyiv has also deployed record numbers of drones against targets in Russia, while Moscow has responded with what has been described as an unprecedented level of missile attacks.
Trump previously said he had a positive conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin and maintained that Putin was interested in reaching an agreement to end the war.
Putin “is wanting to make a deal, and if Zelensky is wanting to make a deal, that’d be very nice,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday.
Zelensky also said last week that he was willing to meet Putin during the G20 summit at Trump’s Doral resort in Miami in December. However, the Kremlin quickly rejected the possibility of such a meeting.
If confirmed, the reported agreement to halt attacks on energy infrastructure could represent a significant development in efforts to reduce the impact of the conflict on energy supplies and global fuel prices.
