Tusk: nothing indicates Russia is ready for a fair energy ceasefire

Prime Minister Donald Tusk, at a press conference after meeting Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, said sanctions against Russia must be kept and even strengthened. In his words, any attempt to weaken them will only encourage Russians.

On Sunday, US President Donald Trump announced that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to immediately halt mutual strikes on energy infrastructure, without giving details. Tusk called the signals from Washington ambiguous and mentioned Trump's deal with Vladimir Putin on the supply of almost 5 million tonnes of diesel from Russia to the world market.

On Monday, Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking by video link to the Warsaw Security Forum, said that right after Trump's announcement Russia had struck a power plant in Kharkiv. Tusk said Zelensky reported this during their conversation, and soon afterwards there was a blackout in Kyiv. According to Tusk, his talks with Zelensky show that Ukraine is ready to stop its strikes on Russian energy infrastructure immediately, if Russia stops attacking Ukrainian infrastructure. Tusk said: Nothing indicates that Russia is ready for such an honest approach to this issue.