Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has demanded a 60-day ceasefire to hold presidential elections
US President Donald Trump has said Russia and Ukraine have agreed to an immediate energy ceasefire. The announcement comes just days after Trump’s phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which the two leaders agreed on a deal aimed at easing the global fuel crisis through Russian diesel exports.
“Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday, adding that “both parties have agreed” and urging Moscow and Kiev not to “break it.”
On Friday, Trump and Putin held a phone call, shortly after which the US Treasury Department announced a temporary waiver of sanctions on Russian diesel, allowing the fuel to be sold, delivered, and imported into the US until April 7, 2027.
According to Trump, Moscow agreed to immediately supply more than 300,000 metric tons of diesel, followed by another 500,000 metric tons in November and one million more shortly thereafter. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak also confirmed the figures and said Moscow would begin lifting diesel export restrictions ahead of schedule “immediately.”
The US president allegedly struck a deal with Moscow after Zelensky ignored Washington’s requests to stop strikes on Russian oil refineries, Axios reported on Saturday. Trump has blamed Ukraine, and Zelensky personally, for exacerbating the global fuel crisis, saying that Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries have driven up fuel prices, including for American consumers.
On Saturday, Trump once again accused Zelensky of seeking to “make problems for the world” and ignoring US requests, suggesting that it was “time for Ukraine to get a new president.” The Ukrainian leader hit back by demanding a two-month-long total ceasefire to hold the vote.
“If President Trump really wants to have some changes during elections… please tell Putin, give us two months, 60 days off. Total ceasefire, 60 days, and we will organize elections,” he told ABC on Sunday.
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