TRUMP SAYS UKRAINE AND RUSSIA AGREE TO PAUSE ENERGY STRIKES

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Ukraine and Russia had agreed to pause strikes on each other's energy infrastructure. Writing on Truth Social, he said "Ukraine has agreed not to hit Russian Energy targets. Russia has agreed to do, likewise!" He said the rise in global diesel prices was "mostly caused" by the Russia-Ukraine war rather than the conflict involving Iran. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said no agreement had been officially confirmed, adding that Ukraine had proposed its partners secure a deal with Russia to halt attacks on critical infrastructure.

During a trip to Ireland over the weekend, Trump called on Zelenskyy to stop Ukrainian attacks on Russian diesel infrastructure, telling reporters he "has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia." He said Zelenskyy should "go after targets, but not diesel." Global oil prices have risen sharply since the United States and Israel struck Iran in late February, after which Iranian forces effectively shut down the Strait of Hormuz. The strait normally carries around a quarter of the world's seaborne oil trade and remains a sticking point in talks between Washington and Tehran.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine would halt its strikes if Russia stopped attacking its electricity system, energy facilities and food supply routes. Ukraine has increased its strikes on Russian energy facilities in recent months as part of what Zelenskyy has called "long-range sanctions", intended to weaken the Russian economy and hamper the Kremlin's war effort. Trump's claim that the Russia-Ukraine war, rather than the Iran conflict, is chiefly responsible for rising diesel prices has not been independently verified. Neither leader has set out a timetable for the pause or said how it would be monitored.