Zelensky: Trump Is Pushing Three Immediate Steps to De-escalate the War

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says the United States is pushing a proposal for an energy truce between Kyiv and Moscow as one of several immediate steps to de-escalate the war. He made the remarks in an interview with Axios.

"There's a proposal on the table right now: an energy truce. We're ready," Axios quoted the Ukrainian president as saying.

What the US Is Proposing

According to Zelensky, the initiative for a mutual halt to strikes on energy infrastructure on both sides originates with the United States. US President Donald Trump has long said he intends to end the war between Ukraine and Russia through diplomacy, though with little success so far. Lately he has been presenting an energy truce as a top priority — one that would also include Ukraine halting strikes on Russian oil refineries, which observers say have contributed to rising global fuel prices, including in the US.

Even after diplomatic talks on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the two sides made no real progress toward an agreement. According to Axios sources, it remains unclear whether Russian leader Vladimir Putin is even interested in such a truce.

Previous Attempts at a Deal

Back in mid-September, Trump claimed that Russia and Ukraine had already agreed not to strike each other's energy facilities, though no real agreement was ever reached. At the time, Ukraine said it would be willing to support such a measure, but insisted its partners guarantee that Russia would actually stop striking Ukrainian infrastructure. Moscow, for its part, demanded guarantees for the safety of its tankers and pushed for sanctions relief.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz