Russia and Ukraine resume energy strikes despite ceasefire claims
President Donald Trump’s claim of a cease-fire was contradicted on 15 September when Russia and Ukraine launched new strikes against each other’s energy infrastructure overnight, NBC News reported. Earlier in September, U. S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow and met President Vladimir Putin, where both sides pledged a three-day halt to strikes on each other’s capitals, AP News reported. The envoys then travelled to Kyiv for talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but aerial attacks continued, AP News noted.
President Trump and President Putin later held a one-hour phone call described as constructive, Al Jazeera reported, while the Kremlin said Putin assured Trump that Russia had no aggressive plans for Europe. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov subsequently said Moscow would keep its military operations during negotiations, and President Putin warned that deploying European troops to Kyiv would amount to war with Russia, The Independent reported. Kushner later said Ukraine’s refusal to cede the Donbas was stalling a peace deal, The Kyiv Independent reported, and Trump publicly urged Zelenskyy to halt attacks on Russian diesel refineries, CBS News reported. Zelenskyy later expressed doubt that any pause would be honoured, NBC News reported.