“A 60-Day Ceasefire for Elections? Just One Day, on Election Day”: Russia Cold as Trump’s “Energy Ceasefire” Goes Nowhere

[Financial News] U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly announced an “energy ceasefire” agreement between Russia and Ukraine, raising the pressure to end the war. But Russia’s continued airstrikes and effective rejection of the ceasefire proposal have instead heightened tensions along the front lines.
According to AFP and other foreign media on the 12th (local time), Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned in a speech at the Warsaw Security Forum (WSF) in Warsaw, Poland, which he attended remotely that day: “I support the energy ceasefire proposal announced by President Trump, but if Russia does not agree and continues its attacks, we too will respond (retaliate) this winter.”
Zelenskyy said, “There were no fires at Russian oil refineries last night, but at midnight Russian fighter jets and drones attacked gas production facilities and regular gas stations in Ukraine,” adding, “In just one day, six Ukrainian energy facilities were attacked, 33 people were injured, and three civilians were killed in the east.” Ukraine’s state-owned energy company Naftogaz also said that a gas production facility in the Kharkiv region was hit overnight, damaging key equipment.
Zelenskyy said emphatically, “So far, Putin’s only answer to President Trump has been attacks,” adding, “If we want to stop striking Russia’s oil refineries and crude oil export facilities, Russia must also stop airstrikes on our power plants and power grid.”
The previous day, Trump claimed on Truth Social that the two sides had agreed to an immediate energy ceasefire. The White House described it as “a mutual halt by both countries to strikes on oil refineries,” but a gap remains with Ukraine, which is calling for attacks to stop across all power infrastructure, including power plants and gas networks. Some analysts have suggested that Trump is applying unilateral pressure in an effort to stabilize oil prices ahead of the U.S. midterm elections.
Russia has been ambiguous about whether an energy ceasefire has been agreed to, while flatly rejecting a ceasefire proposal to allow a presidential election. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov avoided a direct answer on the energy ceasefire, saying, “We’ll let you know as soon as there is something to report,” and adding only that “contacts are continuing.”
Russia responded with a hint of mockery to Zelenskyy’s counterproposal of a “full 60-day ceasefire,” made in response to Trump’s demand that Ukraine hold a presidential election. Peskov effectively dismissed the 60-day ceasefire proposal, saying, “If Ukraine truly wants to hold an election, the commander-in-chief of the Russian military would be ready to issue an order not to attack for exactly one day—the day of the election.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov added, “Zelenskyy does not deserve that kind of respite.”
With Russia continuing its airstrikes while ignoring Trump’s mediation proposal, and Ukraine also declaring its intention to retaliate, Trump’s “energy ceasefire” plan is showing signs of strain and running into trouble from day one.

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