The China Mail - Zelensky doubtful on Russian acceptance of Trump's 'energy ceasefire'

Zelensky earlier promised to respond if Russia refused to agree to the truce, as Moscow indicated it would not adhere to the US president's calls for a pause in attacks on power infrastructure.

Trump sowed confusion on Sunday with a surprise announcement on his Truth Social network that there was an agreement on both sides to end their punishing long-range strikes on power plants and oil refineries.

"It is increasingly evident that Russia is unwilling to accept an energy ceasefire proposed by the United States," Zelensky said on social media.

"Today alone, the Russians have attacked six energy facilities in Ukraine. Thirty-three people were wounded across the country," he added.

Zelensky had said Ukraine would back the ceasefire.

"If Russia does not agree to an energy ceasefire, we will respond," he told the Warsaw Security Conference.

Moscow has refused to say if an "energy ceasefire" was in place and appeared to reject Zelensky's offer of a 60-day pause in hostilities for elections to be held in Ukraine -- which both the Kremlin and the White House have demanded.

"We don't want a ceasefire, we want long-term peace," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, saying President Vladimir Putin would only order his troops to cease fire on election day itself.

"I do not think he (Zelensky) deserves a respite," added Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

- Real deal -

Ukraine's Western allies have all backed a pause in attacks targeting the energy sector, as Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II nears its fifth anniversary and winter approaches.

But they have lined up to condemn Trump's announcement to allow Russia to supply diesel exports, with gas prices surging before US midterm elections next month and Trump's Republicans expected to be hit hard.

On Monday, the European Union formally added almost 1,600 new individuals and entities to its lengthy sanctions list to further turn the screws on Russia and its war machine.

Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Europe would not go soft on Russia and that Moscow "will only negotiate seriously under pressure".

Zelensky said Ukraine was awaiting specific details of Trump's purported deal but said security guarantees were needed "here in reality, not just on Truth Social".

A 13-year-old girl was among three generations of the same family who were killed in a Russian strike near the frontline city of Kramatorsk on Monday, the authorities said.

The head of the military administration in the Donetsk region, Vadym Filashkin, accused Russian forces of using cluster munitions in "a deliberate attempt to inflict as many casualties as possible among civilians".

Last week, 30 people were killed when a Russian strike hit two buses in Kramatorsk.

- 'Dominance' -

Putin claims the Donetsk region as a whole and has previously rejected face-to-face talks with Zelensky, making European leaders sceptical about whether he would accept any temporary pause in the bitter fighting.

Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk told the Warsaw conference that Moscow was "not interested in a ceasefire or in de-escalation or peace".

"It is interested only in domination," he said, urging European and US unity to ensure Ukraine's "survival" against Russia's attempts for "dominance".

NATO's top military commander, US General Alexus Grynkewich, told the conference that the alliance would "block, blunt and break" any Russian attempt to attack its members, as fears grow about the threat from Moscow.

Even after Trump's announcement, Ukraine reported a Russian drone attack on a gas facility in the eastern Kharkiv region, which operator Naftogaz said damaged "critical equipment" and forced emergency repairs.

Russia has previously attacked Ukraine's energy sector before winter, leaving many Ukrainians without power or heating as temperatures dropped as low as -20C.

According to Green Deal Ukraine, an expert group, Ukraine's power generation capacity was 39.5 gigawatts just before Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

But that had plunged to 13.5 GW in September this year.

T.Wu--ThChM