Energy prices rise after Trump’s ‘energy ceasefire’ fails to move Russia or Ukraine
NBC News · LC · trust 55/100
Brent crude oil jumped 2% to almost $108 per barrel and U.S. crude oil rose more than 2% to about $94. Meanwhile, diesel futures fully erased a small drop they saw last week.
Just weeks out from the Nov. 3 midterm elections, the price pressures are mounting. Republicans face a steep climb to maintain their majorities in Congress, and voters across the country cite high gas prices as a key issue affecting their votes.
The average nationwide price of diesel fuel Monday was $6.26 per gallon, nearly 80% higher than it had been at the start of the year, according to AAA data.
The rising prices Monday came less than 24 hours after Trump declared that a ceasefire had been agreed to.
“Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed. Do not break it!” Trump wrote on Truth Social .
Shortly after the president’s post, Russia renewed strikes against Ukrainian energy assets.
Pressed by reporters Monday as to why neither the Kremlin nor Kyiv had firmly committed to his ceasefire, Trump indicated that he knew when he made the announcement on Sunday that he did not yet have a commitment from either side.
“They agreed, you know why? Because I said ‘You agree,” Trump told reporters at the White House. As for getting Russian President Vladimir Putin to commit, Trump said, “We’re going to see what happens.”
Asked if he was aware that Russia had already violated the ceasefire Trump had announced, the president replied, “I’m not sure about that,” before claiming there had been “violations on both sides.”
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine learned about Trump’s ceasefire from media reports and was given no advance warning. He reiterated his position that Ukraine was open to an agreement not to target enemy energy infrastructure as long as Moscow agrees to it, too.
In the meantime, Russia continued with “glide bomb strikes and strikes on our energy infrastructure,” Zelenskyy said Monday, noting that a power plant in Kharkiv had recently been attacked.
“Ukraine has proposed many de-escalatory steps. Putin had one answer to all of them — ‘nyet,’” Zelenskyy said, using the Russian word for “no.”
The Kremlin on Monday neither confirmed nor denied having agreed to a deal.
Trump’s Sunday announcement closely mirrored a similar post he made in September, when he announced that “Ukraine has agreed not to hit Russian Energy targets. Russia has agreed to do, likewise!”
There, too, Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s participation hinged on Russia’s agreement to comply, which never came. Neither Ukrainian nor Russian strikes on the other’s energy assets slowed down in September.
The dubious ceasefire Trump declared over the weekend followed a stunning announcement Friday in which the president said Russia would supply millions of barrels of diesel “to the American and Global Marketplace.”
The announcement came after a phone call Friday between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin that reportedly lasted over an hour.
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