Trump refuses to accuse Russia of breaking energy ceasefire, says Ukraine 'hit sites the day before'
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U.S. President Donald Trump on Oct. 13 did not directly accuse the Kremlin of violating his energy ceasefire, saying Ukraine also previously struck Russian energy sites in response to reporters' questions.
Trump unexpectedly announced an energy ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia on Oct. 11, taking Kyiv by surprise, adding that there was a ceasefire in place "because I said they agreed."
When asked by reporters whether he thinks Russia violated the ceasefire, he briefly answered, "I'll let you know about that later."
"Well, Ukraine hit many sites the day before," Trump responded to another question.
Just hours after Trump's announcement, Russia violated the ceasefire by striking Kharkiv's CHP-5 power plant.
According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Kremlin attacked six energy facilities on Oct. 11, injuring 33 people across the country.
Following the attack, Zelensky disclosed that over the past week, Russia has carried out over 200 strikes on Ukraine's electricity and transmission facilities, in addition to 17 strikes on gas and oil facilities.
Nonetheless, Ukraine has refrained from attacking Russia's oil refineries for the past two days.
"We are ready to respect an energy ceasefire if Russia is ready to do the same," Zelensky said on Oct. 12, noting that a ceasefire focused only on oil refineries makes no sense since Ukraine has a single "badly damaged" refinery previously attacked by Russia.
Russia has yet to formally respond to the ceasefire, stating Putin is not interested in a ceasefire.
"We want long-term peace and are prepared to do everything possible to achieve it," said Kremlin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Oct. 12, without providing further details on what "long-term peace" entails.
"We are working with them (Ukraine) and Russia on getting the war to end," said Trump.
