Donald Trump claims that Putin wants to conclude a peace agreement more than Zelensky

United States President Donald Trump has avoided announcing new pressure on Russia to respect the energy ceasefire in Ukraine and argued that officials in Kyiv need to do more to reach a peace agreement. He made the remarks on Tuesday after journalists asked him about Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

Trump said he needed to verify the information and claimed that there had been violations “on both sides.” Asked how he would convince Vladimir Putin to respect the ceasefire, the U.S. president said that the Russian leader wants to reach an agreement and that Volodymyr Zelenskyy must be persuaded to accept an end to the war. Trump added that Putin was supposedly more interested in peace than the Ukrainian president.

Zelenskyy had previously asked the White House to ensure that Russia respects the energy ceasefire announced by Trump. He said that, immediately after the announcement, a power plant in Kharkiv was attacked and that Russian drones continued to strike Kyiv. Ukraine says it is prepared to halt attacks on Russian energy infrastructure if Moscow does the same.

The ceasefire was announced after criticism over U.S. imports of Russian fuel, which several senators deemed contrary to the ban adopted by Congress in 2022.