Trump did not ask Ukraine to unilaterally stop strikes on Russian energy facilities – Zelenskyy

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that US leader Donald Trump had not asked Ukraine to unilaterally stop strikes on Russian energy facilities.

He made the statement at a press conference in New York, Censor.NET reports, citing the broadcast.

Refuting claims of unilateral demands

Zelenskyy stressed that, contrary to certain public statements from the US side, there had been no attempt during closed-door talks to force Kyiv to stop attacks on oil refineries and other facilities of this kind. Instead, the idea of a bilateral truce, which Ukraine supports, was considered.

"There were no requests today for Ukraine to stop its strikes unilaterally. We are talking about an energy truce," he said.

Warning regarding possible violations by Russia

Zelenskyy added that he had also warned the US side that Russia would likely violate the truce.

"There will be attacks, and Putin will tell you that it is because of Ukraine," he explained, citing the latest strikes on Ukraine as an example.

The Ukrainian president hopes that the United States will be able to persuade Putin to agree to such a partial deal.

Background

On 21 September, US President Donald Trump said that Russia had lost control over its own oil refining industry because of its war against Ukraine.
On 14 September, Trump claimed that Ukraine and Russia had agreed to a mutual halt in strikes on energy facilities.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later responded to Trump, saying that Ukraine was prepared to refrain from striking Russian energy infrastructure if its partners guaranteed that Russia would not strike Ukraine’s.
Russian dictator’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov called a possible energy ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia "a good idea".
Media outlets reported that Trump planned to pressure his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy to agree to a ceasefire with Russia during their face-to-face meeting in New York on 22 September. He wants Kyiv to agree to an energy ceasefire with Russia.
US Vice President JD Vance expressed cautious optimism about progress, although he described Russia’s war against Ukraine as "the most difficult international conflict" to resolve.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio publicly called for a separate "energy ceasefire" between the two sides.
In an interview with CBC News, Zelenskyy said that he was ready to meet Putin to bring peace closer. He also outlined a condition for de-escalation: Ukraine would stop striking Russian oil refineries only in response to a similar move by Moscow.