Trump's statement on the "energy truce" "blew up in the air"
Yesterday, he said that Russia and Ukraine had agreed not to strike each other's energy facilities. At night, Ukraine attacked the Syzran oil refinery, and in the morning, Russia targeted a gas station in Kyiv.
Trump's statement on "energy truce" "goes up in smoke"
Russia and Ukraine continued to strike each other just hours after US President Donald Trump announced an "energy truce" between the countries.
On the night of September 15, the Ukrainian armed forces struck Rosneft's Syzran oil refinery in the Samara region, resulting in a fire at the enterprise. In total, more than 40 drones were shot down over the region during the night. In Taganrog, Ozon warehouses, a local agricultural enterprise, an educational building, a shop, and several residential buildings were damaged. According to Astra, the "Taganrog-Central" military airfield was also hit. No casualties were reported in either Taganrog or the Samara region.
In turn, Russian drones attacked Kyiv in the morning. Eight people were injured, and as a result of the strike, gas stations in the Darnitsky and Goloseyevsky districts of the city caught fire. Warehouses and several non-residential buildings in various parts of Kyiv were also hit. In Zaporizhzhia, one person was killed and four others were injured as a result of a strike on an infrastructure facility.
"Russia does not stop striking our energy, ordinary logistics, and critical infrastructure. Our response to this will be significant," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote in the morning.
Just hours before the latest attacks, the US President stated on the Truth Social network that Moscow and Kyiv had agreed to stop strikes on energy facilities, adding that the main reason for the rise in diesel prices was not the US war with Iran, but Russia's war against Ukraine.
The idea of an energy truce was indeed discussed: first in trilateral meetings between the US, Russia, and Ukraine, and after the negotiations stalled in February, in separate talks and through closed channels. However, as the newspaper's interlocutors noted, Putin does not want to make such an agreement on the eve of winter. Those in Moscow believe that strikes on Ukraine's energy sector during the cold season will increase pressure on Kyiv and force it to make concessions.
Two high-ranking Ukrainian officials, in a conversation with the FT, explained Trump's statement by his desire to show voters that the administration is working to lower fuel prices. This is not the first time Trump has blamed Ukraine for expensive diesel. On September 13, he called on Zelenskyy to stop striking oil refineries producing diesel in Russia, saying that such strikes were "harming the whole world."