Why the Kremlin is staying quiet on Trump's energy ceasefire claim

US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to stop strikes on energy infrastructure, effective immediately. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said it was news to him, and Moscow has made no public statement. The question matters because energy facilities on both sides have been regular targets in the war in Ukraine.

The Kremlin's cautious response

Asked by journalists whether the deal existed, Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said contacts were continuing and the Kremlin would say more when it had something to report. Pro-Kremlin media were more forthcoming, calling the announcement a gift for Moscow. The outlet Moskovsky Komsomolets argued that Russia would only have to refrain from destroying Ukraine's last working oil refinery, while Kyiv would be barred from hitting Russia's many refineries. That, it said, is why no one in Russia has officially rejected the idea.

Drone strikes and US interests

In recent months, long-range Ukrainian drones have badly damaged Russian oil facilities and caused fuel shortages across the country. The BBC assesses that if such attacks go on, Russia is likely to claim Kyiv is harming US economic interests and the Republican Party's chances in November's midterm elections. Moscow would argue the strikes undermine the recent Trump-Putin deal under which the US would import Russian diesel.

Peace proposals

Zelensky has called for a 60-day ceasefire so that presidential elections can be held in Ukraine. Peskov replied that the Kremlin wants a lasting peace rather than a ceasefire. On Monday the Kremlin proposed a one-day halt to hostilities for elections, which is unlikely to be taken seriously in Ukraine or the West. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Ukraine does not deserve the respite a ceasefire would bring. Zelensky said Russia hit several energy targets across Ukraine overnight and into Monday morning.