Trump announces an “immediate” energy truce between Russia and Ukraine

BarcelonaThe President of the United States, Donald Trump, has announced an "energy ceasefire" between Ukraine and Russia in a statement on his social network, Truth Social. According to Trump, it has been an agreement "of an immediate nature" between the two parties and he has asked that they "do not break it." For the moment, only the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has spoken about the announcement, saying that he was unaware of it at the time it was made public. "If President Trump has negotiated with Putin, please, let him tell us when the ceasefire begins. We are ready and we will accept it," stated Zelenskyy. For the Ukrainian president, the truce is "good news" and "it is important that it becomes a reality."

The announcement of the energy truce comes after Trump declared on Saturday that"it is time for Ukraine to have another president", in a verbal escalation in which the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, avoided a direct clash with the New York tycoon. The President of the United States argued the request for a replacement for Zelenskyy due to the attacks on Russian oil, despite requests from the White House for him to stop them, and Zelenskyy had responded to Trump's provocations – a few hours before the announcement of the truce – with the same offer: Ukraine would only stop attacking Russian oil if Moscow committed to not attacking Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

Russian oil has, in fact, been the trigger for the discord between Trump and Zelenskyy in recent days. "We told him he could do whatever he wanted with Russia, but no attacks on refineries, because they are causing a global problem," stated Trump, who sees that the rise in inflation and the increase in fuel prices could complicate his midterm elections. Ukrainians have already become accustomed to Trump's erratic foreign policy, and Zelenskyy avoided raising the tone because he knows that Russia wants the United States to abandon its support for Ukraine.

The trigger for the discord between the allies has been Trump's rapprochement with the Kremlin with the agreement for Russia to immediately put 300,000 tons of diesel on the market and the subsequent Ukrainian attack on a Russian oil export terminal. Zelensky felt betrayed by Trump and acted on two fronts: the political and the military. On one hand, he criticized a pact that he considered improper for an ally and, on the other, he launched an attack against a Russian oil export terminal. The President of the United States did not take the Ukrainian president's criticism of his pact with the Kremlin or the attack on Russian oil well at all.

The Kremlin picks up Trump's gauntlet

Moscow had long been seeking economic cooperation with the United States without committing to a ceasefire in Ukraine, and Trump's electoral urgency has served the opportunity on a silver platter to the Kremlin. Trump also blames Zelensky for the lack of an agreement to stop the conflict. And Moscow, which seeks to fuel the confrontation between Washington and Kyiv, has not taken long to take advantage of it. "Zelensky is hysterical and it is unlikely that he is capable of taking any rational action," asserted Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov. Moscow thus adopts the argument of the United States president that Zelensky is incapable of negotiating peace because—in Peskov's words—he does not carry out "thoughtful actions."

Faced with the increase in pressure against Zelensky, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, has come to the president's defense: "He has the support of the Ukrainian people, and he is the one who has the right to decide." "Statements from abroad do nothing other than confirm that Zelensky is doing his job well," asserted Sybiha.

Meanwhile, the attacks have continued this Sunday. Russia has bombed a residential area in Kharkiv and caused the death of one person and eight injuries, including a child, and damage to a dozen buildings. "Just this week, the Russians have launched around 1,450 aerial bombs, 75 missiles of various types, and more than 1,640 attack drones," explained Zelensky, in the midst of the escalation of Russian attacks against civilians. In Russia, Ukrainian drones have attacked a data center operated by the Russian tech giant Yandex. Located east of Moscow, it is the third data center of the company attacked in Russia in the last four days.