Zelenskyy Says Ukraine Will Honor Trump's Energy Ceasefire, Says Russia Kept Striking; Kremlin Denies Any Moratorium

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday, Oct. 19, that Ukraine is "ready today" for the energy ceasefire President Trump announced. He also said he is "not sure that Putin is ready."

Speaking to Fox News host Bill Hemmer, Zelenskyy said Russia attacked Ukrainian gas infrastructure even after Trump's latest message on the truce. "It was his answer to President Trump," he said. "The communication from Russia was very clear that they don't know anything about energy ceasefire."

Asked whether Kyiv would honor the arrangement, he answered, "Of course." He said Ukraine did not strike Russian energy facilities overnight.

A truce nobody agrees on

Trump announced Sunday, Oct. 18, on Truth Social that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an immediate halt to attacks on energy facilities. Moscow has not confirmed it accepted any such deal.

A White House official told Axios the proposal initially focused on oil refineries. A broader ceasefire covering power plants and electricity grids could follow, the official said. The same official acknowledged Russia had not yet agreed.

Ukrainian accounts date the push earlier. Kyiv said it held off on refinery strikes after a Trump announcement on Oct. 11. The push came as global diesel and fuel prices rose, and refineries are now the main point of friction between Washington and Kyiv.

From "we're done" to "ready today"

The Monday interview is a shift in tone. In an interview with the Financial Times published Oct. 15, Zelenskyy said the block on hitting Russian refineries was lifted. "The block is out. We're done," he said.

Hours earlier, Ukrainian drones had hit the Ryazan region overnight. Ryazan Gov. Pavel Malkov said the strike started a fire at an oil refinery.

The same night, Russia hit back. Naftogaz acting CEO Sergii Fedorenko said a drone caused a fire at one of the company's gas production facilities in the Poltava region. "Process equipment was damaged, and operations at the facility were suspended," he said. The company was still assessing the full damage.

In the FT interview, Zelenskyy said the minimum price for relenting on energy strikes would be more Patriot interceptors from the United States. He also criticized the administration's interest in business deals with Moscow. He said Trump "loves" and "respects" long-serving leaders like Putin because "it means they can be very strong." Epoch Times said it contacted the White House about those remarks and got no response by publication.

Bloomberg's Monday market brief summarized Zelenskyy's position more bluntly: he accuses Trump of trying to push Ukraine to give in to Russia. On Fox, he took a different line, calling the ceasefire a "good first step" and urging "more pressure" on Moscow.

The Kremlin's position

Moscow's account contradicts both Trump's framing and Kyiv's. On Oct. 15, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied Ukraine had ever let up on its campaign against Russian energy infrastructure. Referring to earlier comments by Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, he said there had never been a "moratorium" on such strikes by Ukraine.

So the Kremlin says no truce existed to break. Zelenskyy says Ukraine kept its side and Russia did not. Neither claim has been independently verified. Russia's drone strikes on Ukrainian energy sites continue to be reported.

Markets rebound

U.S. stocks opened higher Monday as AI-related shares recovered from last week's sharp selloff. A decline in oil prices added support ahead of this week's big earnings reports, Reuters said.

At the open, the Dow fell 23.8 points, or 0.05%, to 51,978.58. The S&P 500 rose 43.3 points, or 0.57%, to 7,702.77. The Nasdaq Composite gained 255.3 points, or 0.98%, to 26,395.29.

Bloomberg said futures pointed to tech stocks snapping an eight-session losing streak. None of the market reporting ties the oil move to the Ukraine diplomacy, so the two should be read as separate developments.

What to watch

The open question is scope. The White House official described a refinery-first deal with power plants and the grid possibly later. Zelenskyy's Fox comments point to a wider assumption of energy infrastructure in general.

Until Moscow says whether it accepted any version, Ukraine's drones and Russia's strikes on energy sites will keep deciding what the "ceasefire" means in practice.