Zelenskyy vows to retaliate if Russian strikes on Ukraine’s power grid continue

Cars burning after a Russian strike on a residential neighbourhood in Kharkiv on Sunday. Photograph: Andrii Marienko/APView image in fullscreenCars burning after a Russian strike on a residential neighbourhood in Kharkiv on Sunday. Photograph: Andrii Marienko/APZelenskyy vows to retaliate if Russian strikes on Ukraine’s power grid continueUkrainian leader says he was surprised by Trump’s ‘energy ceasefire’ announcement, which was posted as Russian drones hit Kyiv

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has vowed to respond to Russia’s continuing attacks on the Ukrainian power grid as European leaders rally around Kyiv amid a feud with Donald Trump over Ukraine’s strikes on oil refineries.

Speaking to a gathering of European security officials in Warsaw on Monday, the Ukrainian president said Ukraine would retaliate if strikes on its power grid continued: “If Russia does not agree to an energy ceasefire this winter, we will respond.”

On Sunday Trump announced an “energy ceasefire” between Kyiv and Moscow that Zelenskyy said neither side had agreed to. On Monday, Zelenskyy said he was “surprised” by the post, which went online while Kyiv was being attacked by Russian Shahed drones.

View image in fullscreenAttendees at a Warsaw security summit on Monday watch Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s address on a large screen. Photograph: Attila Husejnow/APRussia then launched a “targeted attack” on a Kharkiv power station just hours later, as much of Kyiv was plunged into darkness. “It’s clear that Putin does not read Truth Social,” Zelenskyy quipped.

Ukraine wants to negotiate an energy ceasefire that would take the pressure off its electricity grid before the winter. Russia has so far been unwilling to halt its attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure.

European leaders have voiced support for Kyiv in the feud, saying Russia was responsible for the continuing strikes on energy infrastructure in both countries.

“We welcome the energy ceasefire when it holds,” the EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said at a meeting of European foreign ministers on Monday. “We haven’t yet seen that also Russia will stick to it.”

Ministers from the Baltic states criticised a US decision to lift sanctions on imports of Russian diesel, which had been blocked as part of punishment for Putin launching the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

“This deal doesn’t help, neither the crisis of the oil products, nor the unity within the transatlantic community when it concerns Russia,” said Lithuania’s foreign minister, Keʂtutis Budrys. “And it is not the European way. Our way is to increase pressure because we already see how it works.”

Russia has increased its attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, using jet-powered drones and ballistic missiles ahead of the cold winter months, leading to blackouts and water shortages far earlier in the season than has been usual during the war.

Trump’s proposal was for both sides to halt strikes on oil refineries but Kallas said that deal favoured Russia, which has far more refineries.

Trump has blamed the high price of diesel on Ukraine’s attacks, rather than the global shock to energy markets from the war in Iran and the subsequent closure of the strait of Hormuz.

The fast-moving row between Washington and Kyiv began on Friday when Trump announced he was lifting sanctions on Russian diesel exports. He said the move would reduce global and domestic fuel prices before next month’s US midterm elections.

A furious Zelenskyy called the decision “weak” and said it would generate “billions” in extra revenue for Putin, enabling him to wage war “even more intensely”. An equally irate Trump said Zelenskyy should “damn well stop” hitting Russian refineries. Ukraine needed a “new leader”, he said on Saturday.

Responding to Trump, Zelenskyy said it was up to Ukrainians to choose “one or another leader”. He told ABC News he was willing to accept Trump’s demands and to organise elections, but only if Putin agreed to a “total” 60-day ceasefire.