Trump doubts Putin's readiness to halt energy strikes before winter

US President's doubts about Moscow's position

Donald Trump personally doubts that Vladimir Putin will agree to halt strikes on energy infrastructure before the start of the winter period. This is reported in a Kyiv Independent article, where sources familiar with the course of peace talks describe the current situation.

Washington continues to apply pressure on Kyiv and Moscow, demanding that both sides agree to a mutual pause in attacks on energy facilities. This issue became one of the key topics during recent discussions on ending the war.

Positions of the parties and public statements

The US President publicly called on Ukraine to stop strikes on Russian energy infrastructure. "Mr. Zelensky has to do one thing. He has to stop taking diesel fuel out of Russia," Donald Trump stated.

Vladimir Zelensky, in turn, confirmed that Kyiv would support an energy ceasefire. The Russian side characterised such a proposal as a "good idea" but did not publicly express readiness to accept it.

Discrepancies in assessments between Trump and his team

The US President's doubts differ from the views of his advisers. After their latest trip to Russia, Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner returned with the impression that it is entirely possible to agree on a halt to attacks on energy facilities.

"Donald Trump is not as confident as his team," one of the publication's interlocutors noted.

White House reaction and signals from Moscow

A White House representative stated that Trump "remains optimistic" about reaching a peace deal, while not refuting information about his doubts regarding the energy ceasefire. "The United States continues to play a constructive role in negotiations with both sides, working to end the war," he added.

According to a Kyiv Independent source, Ukraine has also received certain signals from Russia about Moscow's readiness to consider a ceasefire in the energy sector. Meanwhile, the details of these signals are not disclosed.