Russia and Ukraine launch new energy attacks despite Trump’s ceasefire claim

The Kremlin has launched near nightly drone and missile attacks on Kyiv and other cities. In an attempt to counter this assault, Ukraine has intensified its campaign of strikes on oil facilities and military targets deep inside Russia.

Trump announced Monday that the two sides had agreed to halt this deadly aerial exchange, which Trump said was the primary driver of a global fuel shortage that has seen diesel prices in the United States hit record highs.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy seemed to question Trump’s assertion that a deal had bee reached, saying he would only promise to halt energy strikes if Russia did the same, and that he did not trust the Kremlin to do so.

The Kremlin welcomed the idea Tuesday but described it as a proposal still being discussed with Washington.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov called Trump’s proposal “a very good idea, a good initiative.” He added that “we are in contact with the Americans. We always support peaceful solutions.”

The White House did not immediately respond to request for comment on what exactly had been agreed, and on the apparent disconnect between Trump’s statement and subsequent events.

In May, Trump secured a three-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine during which time Putin held a “victory day parade.”

Earlier this month, both sides agreed to a three-day pause in strikes while Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, held talks in Moscow and Kyiv. These negotiations did not produce demonstrable results and fighting resumed.

On Monday, Trump blamed rising diesel prices on the Russia-Ukraine war, including Kyiv’s attempts to repel Russia’s assault, rather than the assault he launched against Iran.

That’s despite prices skyrocketing following the American-Israeli bombing campaign on the Islamic Republic, a conflict that shows little sign of ending now into its seventh month.

Tuesday also brought developments on the Ukrainian battlefield, with a senior Ukrainian commander announcing a new offensive in Donetsk, near the strategic fortress cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.

Brig. Gen. Andrii Biletskyi said his forces had cleared Russian infiltration groups from roughly 29 square miles and recaptured another four square miles.

This is a war that also constantly threatens to spill beyond Ukraine’s borders.

Overnight into Tuesday, NATO fighter jets shot down an unmanned aircraft in Lithuanian airspace. The drone’s origin remained under investigation. That came less than a day after NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Russian attacks close to the military alliance’s territory would prompt greater support for Ukraine.

Separately, Denmark summoned Russia’s ambassador after a Russian warship fired flares toward a Danish military helicopter in the Baltic Sea on Monday, according to Danish authorities.