Trump refuses to accuse Russia of breaking energy ceasefire, says Ukraine 'hit sites the day before'

On October 13, U.S. President Donald Trump refrained from accusing Russia of breaking the energy ceasefire, instead stating that Ukraine had previously attacked Russian energy sites in response to reporters' questions. Trump had unexpectedly announced the ceasefire on October 11, surprising Kyiv, claiming they had agreed to it.

When confronted by reporters about potential Russian violations, Trump hinted at a possible future response, saying, "I'll let you know about that later." Shortly after Trump's announcement, Russia violated the ceasefire by striking Kharkiv's CHP-5 power plant.

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Kremlin attacked six energy facilities on October 11, resulting in 33 casualties across the country. Following the attack, Zelensky revealed that Russia had carried out over 200 strikes on Ukraine's electricity and transmission facilities, as well as 17 strikes on gas and oil facilities, within a week. Despite this, Ukraine has refrained from targeting Russia's oil refineries for the past two days.

Zelensky expressed readiness to respect the energy ceasefire if Russia did the same, emphasizing that a ceasefire focused solely on oil refineries is meaningless, as Ukraine possesses only one badly damaged refinery that Russia previously attacked. Russia has yet to formally acknowledge the ceasefire, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stating on October 12 that Putin is not interested in one, without elaborating on what "long-term peace" entails.

Peskov affirmed Russia's commitment to long-term peace and readiness to do everything possible to achieve it. Meanwhile, U.S. President Trump noted ongoing cooperation with Ukraine and Russia in ending the war.