Zelenskyy sceptical over Putin’s vow to pause attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s pledge to pause attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure was “very much at odds with reality” after a night of heavy drone strikes across Ukraine.

“Even last night, after Putin’s conversation with…Trump, when Putin said that he was allegedly giving orders to stop strikes on Ukrainian energy, there were 150 drones launched overnight, including on energy facilities,” Zelenskyy said at a news conference during a visit to Helsinki alongside Finnish President, Alexander Stubb.

Russia claimed it had stopped targeting Ukraine’s energy facilities and accused Kyiv of attacking infrastructure near one of its pipelines.

“Unfortunately, we see that for now there is no reciprocity on the part of the Kyiv regime,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The Russian strikes, which hit civilian areas and damaged a hospital, came after Putin refused to support a full 30-day ceasefire during talks with Trump.

The White House described the Trump-Putin call as a “movement to peace,” with Washington hoping it could lead to a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea and eventually a lasting end to the war.

However, there was no sign that Putin had softened his stance on conditions for a peace deal, which Kyiv strongly opposes.

Stubb called the talks between Trump and Putin a positive step but stressed that Russia must end its aggression.

In reaction to Russia’s refusal to a ceasefire Stubb said, “There are only two ways to respond to the proposal of the president of the United States: it’s a yes or a no — no buts, no conditions.”

He added, “Ukraine accepted a ceasefire without any forms of conditions. If Russia refuses to agree, we need to increase our efforts to strengthen Ukraine and ratchet up pressure on Russia to convince them to come to the negotiating table.”

However, shortly after Trump’s call with Putin on Tuesday, air raid sirens sounded in Kyiv.

Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed the military had followed Putin’s order to halt energy strikes but had downed seven drones it launched before the order at military-related power facilities in Mykolaiv.

Moscow accused Ukraine of attacking an energy facility in Russia’s Krasnodar region, near Crimea, hours after Putin and Trump spoke. It said three drones targeted oil transfer equipment for the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, causing a fire and a drop in pressure in one oil tank.

“It is absolutely clear that we are talking about yet another provocation deliberately concocted by the Kyiv regime, aimed at derailing the peace initiatives of the US president,” Russia’s Defence Ministry said.

Zelenskyy dismissed mere talk of a ceasefire, insisting that actions must follow.

“If the Russians don’t hit our facilities, we definitely won’t hit theirs,” Zelenskyy said.

During the press conference in Helsinki, Zelenskyy said one of the most challenging issues in any future talks would be territorial concessions.

“For us, the red line is the recognition of the Ukrainian temporarily occupied territories as Russian,” he said. “We will not go for it.”

Prisoner of war exchange

Meanwhile also on Wednesday, 175 Russian soldiers were repatriated from territory controlled by Kyiv.

In a post on its Telegram account, the Russian Ministry of Defence stated that all released soldiers would be transported to Russia for medical treatment and rehabilitation in military facilities.

In exchange, 175 Ukrainian Armed Forces prisoners of war were returned, along with 22 severely wounded prisoners needing urgent medical deva, as part of a goodwill gesture.

The statement also noted that the United Arab Emirates played a humanitarian mediation role in facilitating the return of the Russian soldiers from captivity.

The Ukrainian president also commented on the exchange on his X account.