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Trump is expected to press Zelensky to accept a Russia-Ukraine energy truce at their NYC meeting

Source: Meduza

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in New York on the evening of September 22. According to The Guardian, Trump is expected to press Zelensky at the meeting to agree to an energy ceasefire with Russia.

The Ukrainian and U.S. leaders spoke by phone on Sunday, September 20. Sources told the Financial Times that their conversation was about “diesel, diesel, diesel.” The next day, Trump discussed the idea of an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine with French President Emmanuel Macron. Macron called the conversation “very constructive” and promised to raise the issue at his meeting with Zelensky as well.

Trump is unhappy with Ukrainian strikes targeting Russia’s diesel production and has already asked Zelensky to halt the attacks. On September 13, he explicitly blamed Kyiv for rising fuel prices, emphasizing that the war between Russia and Ukraine — not the U.S. and Israel’s war against Iran — was responsible.

As early as September 14, Trump said Moscow and Kyiv had agreed to stop striking each other’s energy infrastructure. Sources told the Financial Times that the announcement was premature. People familiar with the Kremlin’s position told the newspaper that Putin would not agree to such a deal because attacks on energy facilities during the winter could give him additional leverage over Kyiv.

Since then, Russia has struck energy infrastructure in Kyiv, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, and the Sumy and Odesa regions. An employee of Zaporizhzhiaoblenergo was killed in one of the strikes. After Russia’s overnight attack on September 22, residents of seven Ukrainian regions were left without electricity.

Ukraine, in turn, has attacked the Syzran, Yaroslavl, Moscow, and Kuybyshev oil refineries. Trump said the repeated attacks had caused Russia to lose control of its diesel industry — and that “The whole World suffers” as a result.

The Kremlin called an energy ceasefire “a good idea” but said keeping refineries operating safely and increasing production of petroleum products would not solve “global problems” — lifting sanctions on shipments and ensuring the safety of tankers were far more important.

Zelensky said Russia and Ukraine see the problem completely differently: Moscow is thinking about the oil and gas trade, while Kyiv is thinking about electricity in people’s homes. He proposed that Russia “put on the table” a list of facilities to be covered by the ceasefire. On Monday, Zelensky listed the targets Russia must stop striking:

Zelensky and Trump are scheduled to meet at 8:15 p.m. Moscow time. According to Reuters, the outcome of the talks is difficult to predict. The news agency pointed to the two leaders’ public meeting in Washington in February 2025, which ended in a heated exchange broadcast live.

The war in photos: Kramatorsk

Russia attacked Kramatorsk on Monday, September 21. Donetsk regional police said Russian forces struck the city with KAB-250 aerial bombs, Tornado-S multiple-launch rocket systems, and drones. One person was killed, and seven others were injured, including two children. Eight apartment buildings and 17 private homes were damaged. The photographs show the aftermath of the strikes.