(Photo credit: Agence France-Presse)The Cradle
OCT 12, 2026
Putin has offered to halt strikes on Ukraine for a day for Kiev to hold elections, while Zelensky says a 60-day ceasefire is needed to do so
Washington is threatening to stop supplies of weapons to Ukraine to pressure Kiev to halt its strikes on Russia’s energy infrastructure, the Financial Times (FT) reported on 12 October, citing officials in Europe.
US officials have contacted European diplomats saying the US plans to cut off intelligence sharing and shutter the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List mechanism (Purl) for procuring US weapons for Ukraine if the strikes on Russian oil refineries are not ended.
“They are calling Kyiv … they are calling everyone [in Europe],” said a European official who received a call.
Zelensky has come under pressure from Trump to end attacks on Russian refineries amid a spike in world energy prices, in particular in diesel fuel, as a result of the US president’s attack on Iran in February alongside Israel.
Trump is seeking a way to lower diesel prices in the US ahead of the midterm elections in November.
On Sunday, US President Donald Trump made a surprise announcement on social media claiming that Ukraine and Russia had reached a ceasefire to halt attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure.
“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.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office said it was unaware of the deal.
“Nobody has heard [of the ceasefire],” a senior Ukrainian official close to Zelensky told FT on Sunday.
The Kremlin did not comment.
Before Trump’s announcement, Zelensky said Ukraine is willing to stop attacks on Russian oil refineries as “early as today” if Russia stops its strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
In a Sunday interview with ABC News, Zelensky also proposed holding elections in Ukraine if Russian President Vladimir Putin agrees to a 60-day ceasefire.
“Of course, we will be ready for any choice of our people, exactly Ukrainian people … On this question, I know that Putin wanted very much to change the president in Ukraine.”
Ukraine was supposed to hold presidential elections in March 2024 and parliamentary elections in October 2023.
Both elections were postponed because Ukraine has been under martial law since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
Putin stated on Sunday that Moscow would consider halting airstrikes deep into Ukraine if elections are held, but only on election day. The 5 to 10 million Ukrainians living in territory seized by Moscow during the war and annexed to Russia should have the right to vote, he emphasized.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Galuzin reiterated Putin’s offer, adding that “there is no talk yet of the practical organization of voting in Ukraine.”
Galuzin also drew attention to Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian territory during previous Russian election campaigns.
On Saturday, Trump’s frustrations with Zelensky appeared to boil over as he suggested he be replaced.
“I suggest they get a new leader who can make a [peace] deal,” but “for some reason [Zelensky] never does,” Trump stated while speaking at the White House.
Trump claimed Zelensky has “lost 30 percent of your country and you’ve had over a million people die, between the two of them, over 2 million people killed. That’s a war that should have never started. And I think it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president.”
On Friday, Trump announced he had reached a deal with Putin for the US to purchase more than 300,000 tons of Russian diesel fuel for immediate release into US and global markets.
The deal called for another 500,000 tons to follow in November and a further 1 million tons soon after.
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