United States President Donald Trump has insisted that Russia and Ukraine have agreed to cease placing one another’s power infrastructure, as he referred to as on each side to finish the “ridiculous” conflict.
Trump’s feedback on Monday got here whilst Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned Russian forces had struck at the very least six Ukrainian power services because the US president declared the truce on Sunday.
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“Nicely, they agreed,” Trump instructed reporters, referring to Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. “As a result of I mentioned, ‘You agree’. That’s why they agreed, as a result of I mentioned they agree.”
When pressed concerning the Russian strikes, Trump mentioned, “Nicely, I’d have to take a look at it and see, as a result of there’s been violations on each side.”
The US president referred to as the conflict, which started with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a “catastrophe” and claimed, with out providing proof, that at the very least 32,000 folks had been killed this month alone.
“All I do know is that Zelenskyy and Putin need to get collectively and finish that ridiculous conflict,” he mentioned.
Kyiv blindsided
Trump had blindsided Kyiv and its European allies when he introduced the purported power ceasefire on Sunday. The announcement got here two days after he quickly eased US sanctions on Russian diesel, a transfer that drew outrage in Europe and Ukraine.
Zelenskyy mentioned it reversed years of Western efforts to isolate Russia’s economic system and would solely embolden Putin.
Lawmakers from each main events in the US have additionally mentioned the diesel choice seems to violate US regulation. A number of Republicans have objected that it undercuts a regulation Trump himself signed to tighten restrictions on Moscow.
Zelenskyy mentioned on Monday that Ukraine supported an power ceasefire and had carried out no assaults on Russian refineries in a single day. He mentioned Kyiv was ready to signal “ensures to verify they are often trusted”.
However he mentioned it was “more and more evident” that Moscow wouldn’t comply.
“In the present day alone, the Russians have attacked 6 power services in Ukraine. 33 folks had been wounded throughout the nation,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media. “That is what occurs when Russia sees the prospect of upper revenues for its conflict machine.”
Russia, nevertheless, has rejected any pause in combating, with Overseas Minister Sergey Lavrov promising to press forward with the navy marketing campaign.
“I don’t suppose he deserves a respite,” he mentioned of Zelenskyy. “I don’t suppose we’ll be shopping for into assurances and guarantees once more.” Russia, he added, would proceed to pursue the targets of what it calls its “particular navy operation” in Ukraine.
US midterms
Trump, in the meantime, has portrayed Ukraine, moderately than Russia, as the principle impediment to peace. He has mentioned that Putin is extra keen on a deal than Zelenskyy, and has referred to as on Ukrainians to vote their president out of workplace – an unusually harsh flip in a relationship that has been strained since Trump returned to the White Home in 2025.
Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher, reporting from Washington, DC, mentioned Trump has beforehand introduced agreements between Russia and Ukraine that by no means materialised.
“He says he needs to guard industries within the US like farmers and ranchers, and to try this he wants the worth to go down. However evidently he thinks there’s a deal, however nobody else is certain that there really is one,” Fisher mentioned.
The newest announcement, in keeping with our correspondent, seemed to be pushed by Trump’s want to convey down diesel costs earlier than the US midterm elections on November 3.
Most polls predict that Republicans will lose management of Congress as voters develop annoyed with rising costs, significantly for petrol.
An opinion survey printed on October 1 by the Related Press information company and the College of Chicago instructed that 65 p.c of US adults blame the White Home for the excessive price of residing, particularly Trump’s tariff insurance policies and his new conflict towards Iran.
Ukraine’s European allies, in the meantime, voiced scepticism concerning the power ceasefire and authorized the biggest set of European Union sanctions since Russia’s 2022 invasion.
The bloc’s international ministers added some 1,569 folks and companies to the bloc’s sanctions checklist to keep up the strain on Moscow.
“Russia will solely negotiate significantly underneath strain, which is why we’re sticking to our sanctions towards Russia,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz mentioned in Berlin.
