Ukraine backs ceasefire after Trump declares surprise deal is done

United States President Donald Trump announced an immediate "energy ceasefire" between Russia and Ukraine on Sunday via a post on his Truth Social platform. According to Punch and The National Business, Trump stated that both parties had agreed to halt attacks targeting energy infrastructure. Trump's social media post included the instruction, "Do not break it!" but provided no details regarding the duration of the ceasefire, how it would be enforced, or which specific sites would be covered.

While Trump claimed both sides had agreed to the halt, Punch noted there was no immediate confirmation from Kyiv or Moscow that an agreement had been reached or had taken effect. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Axios that the ceasefire announcement was news to him. However, The National Business reported that Zelenskyy added that if Russia agreed to an energy ceasefire, Ukraine would accept it.

The announcement followed a dispute between Trump and Zelenskyy concerning strikes on Russian oil refineries. The National Business reported that Trump criticized these strikes on Saturday, following Washington's temporary lifting of sanctions on Russian fuel. During that same period, Trump told reporters at the White House that he thought it was time for Ukraine to get a new president.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, Punch, The National Business, Punch Nigeria — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.