The Kremlin on Monday rejected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's proposal for a comprehensive 60-day ceasefire to allow an election campaign and presidential elections to be held in Ukraine, offering instead to suspend Russian strikes for just one day: polling day.
The Russian position came amid a dispute over the implementation of a truce linked to energy facilities that US President Donald Trump said Moscow and Kyiv had agreed to. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin, as supreme commander of the armed forces, would be ready to order a halt to strikes on Ukraine on election day if Kyiv genuinely wanted to hold the vote.
Moscow limits halt to strikes to polling day
Peskov stressed that the proposed halt to strikes would be limited specifically to election day, rejecting Kyiv's request for a two-month cessation of hostilities. On Sunday, Zelenskyy called during an interview with ABC's This Week programme for Ukraine to be granted a comprehensive two-month truce.
Please tell Putin: give us two months, 60 days of a full ceasefire, 60 days, and we will organise the elections
He said President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials had repeatedly stressed that Russia did not want merely a ceasefire but lasting peace, adding that Moscow was ready to do everything possible to achieve it. Russia has for some time been pressing Ukraine to hold elections, saying that the continued suspension of voting leaves Zelenskyy as a president without legitimacy.
By contrast, Ukrainian law prohibits elections during wartime. The European Union said Ukraine would hold elections if Russia ended the war, linking a return to the electoral process to the end of the circumstances preventing the vote from being organised.
Russian-US dispute over energy facilities truce
In a parallel development, the Kremlin declined to confirm that an agreement to halt mutual attacks on energy facilities had taken effect, after Trump announced at the weekend that Russia and Ukraine had reached what he described as an energy truce. Trump said the two sides had agreed to stop targeting oil refineries in both countries immediately, writing that a ceasefire was in effect and that both sides had agreed to it.
Peskov declined to say whether Russia had actually agreed to the proposed truce in the energy sector, saying only that contacts were continuing and that Moscow would announce further information when it became available. Russia therefore did not provide a similar confirmation of Trump's announcement concerning a halt to mutual attacks on oil and energy facilities.
Speaking at the Warsaw Security Forum in Poland, Zelenskyy said Ukraine had learnt from media reports that Trump had reached an agreement with Russia involving a mutual halt to attacks on energy facilities. He confirmed that his country supported such an arrangement and was ready to comply with it if Moscow did so as well, but said he had not heard of Russian agreement to the proposal.
The Ukrainian president added that Kyiv's acceptance of the truce required it to be mutual and backed by real guarantees. He said Ukraine would respond if Moscow did not agree to halt the attacks, arguing that the continued targeting of energy facilities by Russian forces, and the increase in the frequency of those attacks, meant that the Russian side was not complying with the arrangement announced by Trump.
Zelenskyy ruled out Russia complying with the energy agreement mentioned by Trump, stressing that Moscow was continuing to target Ukrainian infrastructure despite the US announcement. He also said Russia must not be given any opportunity to break Ukraine and Europe. In the same context, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Zelenskyy held Russia responsible for the failure to formalise an energy truce agreement.
Europe faces Moscow's accusations over the course of the war
In a position reflecting continuing tensions with European capitals, Peskov described Europe as a «party of war», rather than part of a «party of peace» seeking a settlement to the conflict in Ukraine. European officials, by contrast, said that buying Russian energy could help fund Moscow and stressed the need to maintain pressure on Russia and continue supporting Ukraine.
Trump defended his agreement with Russia on diesel, saying his decisions prioritised US interests and «America First». He also claimed that the European Union had paid Russia 250 billion dollars for energy and accused what he called the «fake media» of failing to disclose this. The figure appeared in Trump's remarks as his claim about the scale of European payments to Russia.
The disputes over the election truce and energy agreement coincided with a warning to Russia from a NATO commander over any potential attack.
The declared positions remain far apart: Moscow is offering to halt strikes only on polling day and is calling for a long-term settlement, while Kyiv requires a comprehensive 60-day ceasefire to organise elections and links acceptance of an energy truce to a reciprocal Russian commitment and enforceable guarantees.
