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Volodymyr Zelenskyy has vowed to respond to Russia’s continuing attacks on the Ukrainian power grid as European leaders rallied around Kyiv amid a feud with Donald Trump over Ukraine’s strikes on oil refineries. Speaking to a gathering of European security officials in Warsaw on Monday, the Ukrainian president vowed to retaliate if strikes on Ukraine’s power grid continued: “If Russia does not agree to an energy ceasefire this winter, we will respond.” On Sunday Trump announced an “energy ceasefire” between Kyiv and Moscow that Zelenskyy said neither side had agreed to. On Monday, Zelenskyy said he was “surprised” by the post, which went online as Kyiv was under attack from Shahed drones.
Attendees at a Warsaw security summit on Monday watch Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s address on a large screen. Photograph: Attila Husejnow/AP Russia then launched a “targeted attack” on a Kharkiv power station just hours later, as much of Kyiv was plunged into darkness. “It’s clear that Putin does not read Truth Social,” Zelenskyy quipped.
Ukraine wants to negotiate an energy ceasefire that would take pressure off its electricity grid before the winter. Russia has so far not been willing to agree to halt attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure. European leaders have voiced support for Kyiv in the feud, saying that Russia was responsible for the continuing strikes on energy infrastructure in both countries.
“We welcome the energy ceasefire when it holds,” said the EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas during a meeting of European foreign ministers on Monday. “We haven’t yet seen that also Russia will stick to it.” Ministers from the Baltic states criticised a US decision to lift sanctions on imports of Russian diesel , which had been blocked as part of punishment for Putin launching the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. “This deal doesn’t help, neither the crisis of the oil products, nor the unity within the transatlantic community when it concerns Russia,” said Lithuania’s foreign minister, Keʂtutis Budrys.
“And it is not the European way. Our way is to increase pressure because we already see how it works.” Russia has stepped up its attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure using jet-powered drones and ballistic missiles ahead of the cold winter months, leading to blackouts and water shortages far earlier in the season than has been usual during the war. Trump’s proposal was for both sides to halt strikes on oil refineries but that deal favours Russia, which has far more refineries, said Kallas.
Trump has blamed the high price of diesel on Ukraine’s attacks, rather than the global shock to energy markets from the war in Iran and the subsequent closure of the strait of Hormuz. The fast-moving row between Washington and Kyiv began on Friday when Trump announced he was lifting sanctions on Russian diesel exports . He said the move would reduce global and domestic fuel prices before next month’s US midterm elections.
A furious Zelenskyy called the decision “weak” and said it would generate “billions” in extra revenue for Putin, enabling him to wage war “even more intensely”. An equally irate Trump said Zelenskyy should “damn well stop” hitting Russian refineries. Ukraine needed a “new leader” , he said on Saturday.
Responding to Trump, Zelenskyy said it was up to Ukrainians to choose “one or another leader”. He told ABC News he was willing to accept Trump’s demands and to organise elections, but only if Putin agreed to a “total” 60-day ceasefire.
Source: The Guardian
