(Oct 13): German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy regard an “energy truce” announced by Donald Trump covering Russian oil refineries as too narrow and want Moscow to accept a broader ceasefire in the power sector, according to people familiar with the matter.

Both leaders agree that any ban on military strikes should include electricity infrastructure in Ukraine as well as Russian refineries, the people said, asking not to be identified because the discussions aren’t public. Merz and Zelenskyy expect other European Union leaders to support their stance at a summit in Brussels this week, the people said.

Zelenskyy briefed Merz during a phone call on Monday on massive Russian air strikes on civilian targets in Ukraine at the weekend, including energy infrastructure.

The two leaders agreed it was now up to Russia to implement a ceasefire covering the entire energy infrastructure, according to the people.

Global energy costs have ballooned since Israel and the US launched a war against Iran, disrupting oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump announced last week that he’d reached a deal with President Vladimir Putin for Russia to begin releasing diesel supplies into global markets as part of a US effort to bring down prices from record highs ahead of the Nov 3 midterm elections. 

The agreement, which involved lifting US sanctions in place since 2022, shocked Ukraine and its European allies, and has triggered rising tensions between Trump and Zelenskyy.

The US president then announced on Truth Social that he’d reached an “energy truce” between Ukraine and Russia. On Monday, he acknowledged that neither side had committed to halt attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure. 

Zelenskyy, who said he first learned about the truce in the media, reiterated his longstanding position that Ukraine will halt strikes if Russia does, while expressing strong doubts that Putin would do so. Ukraine’s state-run energy company Naftogaz said on Monday that Russia attacked gas production facilities, damaging critical equipment in the eastern Kharkiv region.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on Trump’s announcement, though he said contacts on an energy ceasefire were continuing, the Interfax news service reported on Monday. He told reporters they should address any further questions on Trump’s statement to the US president.

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