Zelenskyy: Ukraine Ready for Energy Ceasefire, Trilateral Summit

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Kyiv is prepared to enter an “energy ceasefire” halting strikes on energy infrastructure, and called for a three-way diplomatic summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, according to CNBC.

The dual proposal — a conditional pause in infrastructure attacks paired with a call for direct high-level talks — comes days after Zelenskyy and Trump met on the margins of the UN General Assembly and represents Kyiv’s most explicit push yet for a structured diplomatic framework.

The Energy Ceasefire Offer

An energy ceasefire would mean both sides agree to stop targeting power generation facilities, fuel storage depots, and electrical grid infrastructure. Such strikes have caused recurring humanitarian crises throughout the war, leaving millions of civilians without heat and electricity during winter months.

By signaling readiness for such a halt, Zelenskyy is setting a conditional offer on the table: Kyiv will stand down its infrastructure campaign if Moscow does the same — and if a credible process exists to verify compliance. The inclusion of Trump as a proposed participant in a trilateral summit positions Washington as the necessary guarantor of any such arrangement.

Trump has repeatedly stated his intention to broker an end to the war, and met with Zelenskyy last week to discuss energy-related dimensions of a potential settlement. Whether Moscow sees a trilateral format as acceptable remains to be seen; Russia has historically resisted frameworks in which Western figures play a mediating role on terms set by Kyiv.

Zelenskyy Presses India on Russian Oil

In parallel remarks, Zelenskyy sharpened his pressure campaign on New Delhi. “Russia’s economy depends on India,” he said, according to Firstpost, calling on New Delhi to halt its purchases of Russian crude oil as a step toward ending the war. Hindustan Times also reported Zelenskyy’s remarks, underscoring how broadly Kyiv is now broadcasting the message.

India became one of Russia’s largest oil customers after Western sanctions in 2022 redirected Russian crude exports toward Asian buyers. That revenue stream has provided Moscow with hard currency throughout the war. Zelenskyy’s campaign to publicly pressure New Delhi reflects Kyiv’s understanding that the battlefield and the balance sheet are connected: squeezing Russian energy income is a way of limiting Moscow’s capacity to fight.

The Refinery Campaign as Leverage

Ukraine’s strikes on Russian oil refineries provide Zelenskyy with concrete leverage behind the energy ceasefire offer. A sustained campaign of drone and missile strikes has brought the war directly to Russia’s industrial interior, according to The Independent, damaging refining capacity and disrupting domestic fuel supplies in ways that were not possible in the war’s earlier stages.

That campaign gives the energy ceasefire proposal a reciprocal structure: Kyiv is not simply asking Moscow to stop hitting Ukrainian power stations — it is offering to stand down a campaign that is visibly costing Russia. The offer is conditional, not unconditional.

What Comes Next

The trilateral summit call now sits in front of both Moscow and Washington as a public proposal that requires a response. Trump has expressed general support for negotiation, and his position on energy as a lever in the talks has been a recurring theme in recent weeks. Whether he endorses the trilateral format or pursues a different diplomatic architecture is unclear.

Putin has not publicly responded to Tuesday’s proposal. Russia’s willingness to enter a format that includes Trump alongside Zelenskyy — rather than bilateral talks that exclude Western involvement — would mark a significant shift in Moscow’s stated negotiating posture.

For Zelenskyy, the announcement serves multiple purposes simultaneously: it keeps Ukraine visible as a diplomatically active party, it maintains pressure on India, and it gives European allies a signal that Kyiv remains open to structured de-escalation even as the ground war continues.

The coming days will indicate whether the energy ceasefire offer generates any movement, or whether it joins the long list of proposals that have circulated since the war began without producing a durable framework.