Latest / DEEP INSIGHT / Zelensky says Ukraine supports 'energy ceasefire' announced by Trump

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Zelensky says Ukraine supports 'energy ceasefire' announced by Trump · DEEP INSIGHT

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Ukraine's President Zelensky says he's awaiting details from America after
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Donald Trump claimed that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to
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  Speaker 1: an energy ceasefire. Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social
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  Speaker 1: platform that an agreement between the two sides will halt
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  Speaker 1: attacks on each other's energy facilities and would come into
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: effect immediately. In September, a similar promise of such a
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  Speaker 1: ceasefire failed to materialise. Well, initially, President Zelensky said the
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  Speaker 1: announcement was news to him. but he's now posted to
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  Speaker 1: say he's discussed the energy ceasefire with the leaders of NATO,
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  Speaker 1: Canada and Finland. He added, Ukraine supports the ceasefire and
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  Speaker 1: it's important that Russia supports it as well. We're awaiting
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  Speaker 1: details from the American side. For our part, Ukraine always
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  Speaker 1: fully supports steps towards de-escalation, the protection of lives and
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  Speaker 1: the decisions needed to end the war and guarantee lasting peace. Earlier,
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  Speaker 1: President Zelensky had told the US network ABC that, that
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  Speaker 1: if President Putin agrees to a 60-day ceasefire, he'll organise
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  Speaker 1: elections in Ukraine. It follows comments by President Trump yesterday
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  Speaker 1: that Ukraine should get a new president. Let's speak to
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  Speaker 1: our Ukraine correspondent, Dan Johnson. A lot of words flying about, Dan,
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  Speaker 1: but how much substance is there?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, this seems to have come totally out of the
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  Speaker 2: blue and taken at least the Ukrainian side by surprise.
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  Speaker 2: But their response, initially no comment, now seems to be
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  Speaker 2: that this is what they wanted, so they're going to
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  Speaker 2: adopt it. Zelensky has written on X that he will
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  Speaker 2: support this, that he's awaiting further details. It seems like
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  Speaker 2: he wasn't part of negotiating this that Donald Trump had posted,
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  Speaker 2: but that it is the sort of thing he wanted
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  Speaker 2: to see, so he's willing to support it and will hope.
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  Speaker 2: that it will be adhered to by the Russians. That
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  Speaker 2: is the big question. No response from them at the moment.
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  Speaker 2: We don't know if they were actually in communication with
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  Speaker 2: Donald Trump about this or whether this is just something
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  Speaker 2: that he's taken to truth social and decided to announce himself.
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  Speaker 2: It was about an hour ago when he wrote, Effective immediately,
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  Speaker 2: there is an energy ceasefire in the war between Russia
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  Speaker 2: and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed, and he urged... do
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  Speaker 2: not break it. Now, that certainly seems not to have
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  Speaker 2: been the case in terms of Ukraine. It looks like
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  Speaker 2: they weren't party to this negotiation or discussion. This has
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  Speaker 2: come as a surprise to them. But as I say,
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  Speaker 2: they do seem willing to support it because Ukrainians know
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  Speaker 2: the impact that the attacks on their energy network are
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  Speaker 2: already having. There have been power cuts. There's been disruption
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  Speaker 2: to electricity supplies, to services like the metro here, which
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  Speaker 2: have been interrupted already before winter has even set in.
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  Speaker 2: So everyone here was aware of the destruction of elements
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  Speaker 2: of Ukraine's power network and the impact that that would
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  Speaker 2: have on everyday life. People were braced for a tougher
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  Speaker 2: winter and they knew that Russia would continue to target
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  Speaker 2: those sorts of sites, it was saying, in response for
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  Speaker 2: the oil refineries that Ukraine has been hitting. Zelensky had
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  Speaker 2: already said today that he wanted an energy ceasefire, that
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  Speaker 2: if Russia did stop attacking Ukraine, Ukraine's energy infrastructure. He
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  Speaker 2: would cease the attacks on the oil refineries. Will that
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  Speaker 2: now happen as Donald Trump is promising? That's the big question.
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  Speaker 1: What incentive is there for Russia to do this when
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  Speaker 1: he's already had that concession this week of some of
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  Speaker 1: the sanctions against his diesel being sold to the US?
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  Speaker 2: Yes, the backdrop to this is the deal that President
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  Speaker 2: Trump agreed with the Russians to supply gallons of diesel
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  Speaker 2: to the international market. People in Ukraine particularly suspecting that
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  Speaker 2: Donald Trump was doing that to try to influence global
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  Speaker 2: oil prices, which have rocketed after the war in Iran.
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  Speaker 2: to give him something to present to the American people
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  Speaker 2: ahead of the midterm elections. In terms of an incentive
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  Speaker 2: for Russia, they may actually even struggle to supply that
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  Speaker 2: diesel because Ukraine has been so effective in its long-range
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  Speaker 2: strikes on oil refineries. So in order to fulfill... those
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  Speaker 2: orders and to generate that income, Russia presumably would actually
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  Speaker 2: want Ukraine to stop these attacks. That is something that
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  Speaker 2: had been urged. And if Donald Trump's announcement can now
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  Speaker 2: put that into effect, it will feel like a positive
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  Speaker 2: step for both sides. But there are other targets that
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  Speaker 2: Russia presumably will continue attacking. There have been further air
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  Speaker 2: raids on Kiev and other parts of Ukraine throughout this afternoon.
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  Speaker 2: In fact, one Ukrainian official said that even within the
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  Speaker 2: minutes of this announcement by Donald Trump, there was a
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  Speaker 2: further attack on a Ukrainian thermal power plant. So whether
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  Speaker 2: Russia is actually going to abide by this and whether
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  Speaker 2: it can hold is a serious question. Donald Trump announced
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  Speaker 2: something very similar around a month ago, and that was
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  Speaker 2: not respected by the Russians. And very quickly, those strikes
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  Speaker 2: both ways on energy infrastructure resumed. Will this ceasefire hold
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  Speaker 2: is now what everyone's waiting to see.
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  Speaker 1: Dan, thank you very much, Dan Johnson in Kiev. Kira
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  Speaker 1: Rudik is a Ukrainian MP. She's the leader of the
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  Speaker 1: Holos party, which is in opposition to President Zelensky's party,
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  Speaker 1: but maintains a united front on defence and international support
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  Speaker 1: for Ukraine. And she joins us now from Kiev. Kira Rudik,
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  Speaker 1: welcome to BBC News. There seems to be a lot
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  Speaker 1: of talk today, talk about this energy ceasefire, talk about
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  Speaker 1: the potential for elections if there were a 60-day ceasefire.
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  Speaker 1: Where do you think Ukraine, Russia and the US really
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  Speaker 1: stand at the moment?
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  Speaker 3: Hello, Martina. Thank you so much for having me. First
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  Speaker 3: of all, let me give you some facts from the ground. Today,
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  Speaker 3: Russia launched a massive attack on Kiev. They damaged some
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  Speaker 3: of the infrastructure. And right now where I am and
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  Speaker 3: many of my neighbors, we do not have running water
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  Speaker 3: and the electricity appeared just a minute ago. So we
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  Speaker 3: know that perhaps for Russia, it was also not known,
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  Speaker 3: same as for Ukraine, that some sort of ceasefire is happening.
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  Speaker 3: We also have seen that President Trump's announcements beforehand were
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  Speaker 3: not agreed by both of the parties. And this is
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  Speaker 3: the main threat right now that they are coming out
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  Speaker 3: of the blue. However, as President Zelensky said, Ukraine is
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  Speaker 3: very interested in a ceasefire. We are ready to support
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  Speaker 3: any form of a ceasefire that will allow us to
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  Speaker 3: save lives of our people and preserve our energy system
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  Speaker 3: that is literally hanging by a thread.
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  Speaker 1: But how likely do you think a ceasefire will be
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  Speaker 1: at the moment, whether it's over energy infrastructure or wider
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  Speaker 1: than that, given that President Trump has eased some of
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  Speaker 1: the sanctions on Russian diesel this week?
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  Speaker 3: I cannot be optimistic here. I think that there is
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  Speaker 3: a low chance that Russia would stop right now, given
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  Speaker 3: that we know the hard situation that Ukraine is in. However,
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  Speaker 3: the only hope that I have is that President Trump,
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  Speaker 3: by announcing the ceasefire, becomes a guarantor of it, even
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  Speaker 3: if not legally, but definitely formally and before the midterms
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  Speaker 3: elections in the United States. So we will see, and
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  Speaker 3: Ukraine will definitely not break the ceasefire from its side,
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  Speaker 3: but we didn't hear anything from Moscow's side, and this
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  Speaker 3: is what is worrying. On additional matter... I think it
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  Speaker 3: is incredibly cruel to Ukrainian people who understand what the
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  Speaker 3: situation is. And if this deal was actually not agreed
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  Speaker 3: with both sides and it was just a political announcement
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  Speaker 3: to get some additional votes before the midterms, it is
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  Speaker 3: really cruel to people who understand how hard the situation
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  Speaker 3: is and are looking for any sort of hope.
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  Speaker 1: How much do you think President Zelensky will be inclined
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  Speaker 1: to rely upon the United States, as opposed to leaning
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  Speaker 1: more towards his European allies from now on?
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  Speaker 3: I think it's clear for everyone, both on a political level,
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  Speaker 3: but also in Ukraine society, that the United States showed
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  Speaker 3: themselves not as a strong or reliable ally. And we
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  Speaker 3: know to move forward relying on our partners in the
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  Speaker 3: United Kingdom and in Europe because the actions of the
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  Speaker 3: United States are influenced by the midterms elections and also
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  Speaker 3: by some unpredictable favor that President Trump has towards Vladimir Putin.
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  Speaker 3: I think it's clear right now to everyone and our
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  Speaker 3: actions need to be based on it. However, again, if
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  Speaker 3: President Trump will, by some miracle, be able to secure
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  Speaker 3: this deal, that would be groundbreaking and will allow us
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  Speaker 3: to live another day, but also to fix our energy infrastructure,
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  Speaker 3: to provide running water for people and have a better
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  Speaker 3: chance of surviving winter.
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  Speaker 1: Kira Ruddick, MP, thank you very much for joining us.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you and glory to Ukraine.