Trump Says Ceasefire Holds Despite New Russian Strikes
Trump says Russia and Ukraine agreed to halt strikes on energy sites, but Kyiv reports fresh attacks and Zelenskyy says the deal is 'news to me.'
President Donald Trump said Monday that Russia and Ukraine have agreed to stop striking each other’s energy infrastructure, even as Ukrainian officials reported new Russian attacks on power and gas facilities hours after the claim was made, according to Al Jazeera.
Trump urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin to end what he called a “ridiculous war” and insisted both sides had committed to halting strikes on energy sites. Zelenskyy’s response, as characterized in the same Al Jazeera report, was that the purported deal was “news to me.”
Strikes continue after ceasefire claim
Ukrainian officials say Russian forces have continued hitting energy infrastructure since Trump’s initial ceasefire announcement. Al Jazeera’s video desk reported that both sides are trading strikes even as doubt grows over whether any “energy ceasefire” is actually in force. The pattern echoes Sunday’s reporting, when Zelenskyy said Russia had hit six energy sites in the hours after Trump first claimed a deal was reached (see AmericaStrikes’ coverage of that episode).
Kyiv Post framed the gap between Trump’s statements and events on the ground bluntly, running the headline “Because I Said So” over a report on Trump’s insistence that Russia and Ukraine agreed to a ceasefire, underscoring skepticism in Kyiv about whether any binding agreement exists at all.
A pattern of disputed claims
Monday’s episode is the latest in a string of mismatched statements between Washington, Moscow and Kyiv over the scope and existence of any energy truce. On Sunday, Trump said he had reached an understanding with both leaders to pause strikes on energy infrastructure, a claim Zelenskyy immediately disputed (/articles/2026-10-12-trump-claims-ukraine-energy-ceasefire-zelensky-pushback/). The Kremlin’s own framing of the arrangement — that it covered refineries specifically, not the broader energy grid — added another layer of ambiguity (AmericaStrikes, Oct. 12). European officials have separately accused both sides of violating whatever terms exist and have floated new sanctions in response (AmericaStrikes, Oct. 12).
Trump’s latest comments came alongside remarks that he believes Putin wants a broader deal more than Zelenskyy does, a framing AmericaStrikes reported Monday morning (/articles/2026-10-13-trump-putin-wants-deal-more-than-zelensky/). That characterization has not been independently corroborated by either government.
Economic stakes
The dispute over the ceasefire’s scope carries direct economic weight. Moscow has argued that a sustained halt to strikes on its energy facilities would let Russian diesel exports return toward pre-war levels, according to a Guardian briefing on the Ukraine war. Russian officials have cited that potential upside as a reason Moscow has an interest in the truce holding, even as Ukrainian officials say strikes on their own grid have not stopped.
No independent monitoring body has confirmed the terms, geographic scope, or duration of any energy ceasefire. Statements from Washington, Moscow and Kyiv remain inconsistent on whether an agreement covers refineries only, the broader power grid, or carries any enforcement mechanism at all.
What to watch
Ukrainian officials are expected to continue documenting strikes on energy infrastructure in near-real time, which will serve as the practical test of whether any truce is holding. Markets have shown some sensitivity to the on-again, off-again nature of the claims, with gold prices ticking up as oil eased Monday amid the uncertainty, according to Reuters.
AmericaStrikes will continue tracking statements from all three governments and update as strike reports or official confirmations emerge.
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