On 11 October, President Trump took to Truth Social to declare an 'energy truce'. He wrote, "An ENERGY TRUCE is immediately in effect in the war between Russia and Ukraine. Both sides have agreed. Do not violate it!". The statement asserted that Moscow and Kyiv had mutually agreed to cease attacks on each other’s energy facilities.
President Volodymyr Zelensky responded positively to the announcement. He said Ukraine is ready not to strike Russian energy facilities and expects similar readiness from Russia and the US President’s agreement on this. Zelensky welcomed the agreement, framing it as a step toward reciprocity if Moscow honored its side of the bargain.
European officials reported that, over the weekend following the Trump declaration, US representatives called their counterparts across the continent. The purpose of those calls was to urge an end to attacks on Russian refineries, reinforcing the administration’s desire to see Ukraine curb its strikes on energy targets.
The chronology shows that on 2026-10-11 US officials called European counterparts to demand a halt of strikes on Russian refineries.
The chronology shows that on 2026-10-11 US officials called European counterparts to demand a halt of strikes on Russian refineries. This outreach underscored the pressure from Washington on its allies to align with the administration’s stance on Ukraine’s targeting of Russian energy assets.
Despite the proclaimed truce, Russia ignored the pledge. On 2026-10-11 Russian forces struck the HPP-5 thermal power plant in Kharkiv, ignoring the truce. The attack on the facility demonstrated that Moscow did not observe the mutual halt on energy infrastructure strikes that Trump had announced.
The episode leaves the energy truce looking fragile. Washington’s threat to suspend the PURL mechanism and intelligence sharing shows it is willing to use economic and informational levers to shape Ukraine’s behavior, while Kyiv has expressed willingness to reciprocate if Moscow does the same. Russia’s strike on Kharkiv’s HPP-5, however, signals that the truce has not been observed on the ground, leaving the future of any mutual restraint on energy targeting uncertain.