BOTH UKRAINE AND Russia have complained to the United States about striking each other’s energy sites today, with Kyiv calling on Washington to strengthen sanctions on Moscow for “violating” agreements made in Saudi Arabia.

Each side has accused the other of breaking a supposed deal to stop firing on energy sites, though a formal agreement has not been put in place and what commitments each side has undertaken remain unclear.

After US officials held separate meetings with both sides last month, the White House said that both Ukraine and Russia had “agreed to develop measures for implementing” an “agreement to ban strikes against energy facilities of Russia and Ukraine”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today said his defence minister, Rustem Umerov, was in touch with US officials.

“We have passed on all the necessary information about Russian violations in the energy sector,” Zelenskyy said in his daily evening address.

He earlier called on Washington to strengthen sanctions on Russia as a response.

“I believe we have come to the point of increasing the sanctions impact, because I believe that the Russians are violating what they have promised America. At least what America has told us, and publicly,” Zelenskyy said at a press conference in Kyiv.

“And we very much hope that President (Donald) Trump has all these appropriate tools to increase the sanctions pressure on the Russian side.”

He said Ukraine remains “ready” for an unconditional ceasefire with Russia.

In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier discussed allegations of Ukrainian “violations” in a private meeting of top security officials.

Moscow also said it had handed its complaints to Washington.

‘We passed a list’

“We passed a list of violations… to the US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after the meeting.

“I have passed this list to the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio,” he added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow today. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Russia’s defence ministry earlier accused Kyiv of striking Russian energy sites in the Russian region of Belgorod and the partially Moscow-controlled Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhia.

The allegations come hours after Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said tens of thousands were left without power in the southern Kherson region by a Russian strike.

Local authorities later said power supplies had been restored.

Russia has launched systematic aerial attacks on Ukrainian power plants and grid since invading in February 2022.

Putin last month rejected a joint US-Ukrainian proposal for an unconditional and full ceasefire.

Sybiga also said Kyiv and Washington were holding fresh talks on a minerals agreement that would give the US access to Ukrainian natural resources in return for more support.

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The two countries had planned to sign a deal in February on extracting Ukraine’s strategically important minerals, until a spectacular televised White House clash between Trump and Zelenskyy derailed the agreement.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Trump warned Zelenskyy he would have “big problems” if Kyiv rejected the latest US proposal, details of which have not been published by either side.

Trump has also hit out at Putin for comments he made on Friday about temporarily putting Ukraine under external governance.

In an interview with NBC News, the US President said he was “angry, pissed off” when the Russian leader “started getting into Zelenskyy’s credibility”.

“If a deal isn’t made, and if I think it was Russia’s fault, I’m going to put secondary sanctions on Russia,” Trump said, adding that there would be “a 25 to 50-point tariff on all oil”.

“Anybody buying oil from Russia will not be able to sell their product, any product, not just oil, into the United States.”

Nonetheless, he reiterated that he and Putin have a “very good relationship”.

With reporting from © AFP 2025

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