Zelensky Offers an Energy Ceasefire After Trump Talks; Rubio Meets Lavrov Today
Forty minutes with Mr Trump produced an offer rather than an answer: “We are ready for energy ceasefire… if they will not attack our energy system, our electricity, heating system, water supplies,” Mr Zelensky said, adding that the president had not asked him to stop striking refineries. Kyiv proposed swapping the 600 Patriot missiles Germany will deliver in 2027-28 for American stock now — “they are positive to help us, but I didn’t get the very concrete answer”. Marco Rubio meets Sergei Lavrov in New York this morning.
The energy truce is the first reciprocal formula Kyiv has put on the table since Washington began asking it to sheath the refinery campaign: pause the strikes Mr Trump himself called “a serious hit on the Russians… also a serious hit on the price of diesel” only if Moscow spares the grid before winter. Two things sharpen the moment — Mr Zelensky says intelligence shows Russia preparing “a new massive attack”, and NATO’s deputy commander, Air Chief Marshal Sir John Stringer, calls Putin “increasingly cavalier, dangerous and risk accepting” while urging the alliance to avoid “overreaction”. Russia’s own claims are fraying: its defence ministry falsely announced an encirclement at Dobropillya, and mobilisation drills in Udmurtia suggest the Kremlin is preparing to call up more men. Tuesday’s strikes killed eight Ukrainians. Watch the Rubio-Lavrov readout for the word “energy”.