Donald Trump says the war in Ukraine now has a pause on one front. The US president wrote on his Truth Social network on Sunday, October 11: “Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed. Do not break it!” according to The Guardian, Al Jazeera and DW. DW reports that Trump says both sides agreed to stop targeting oil refineries, power plants and other energy infrastructure. The Guardian says he offered no further details.

Kyiv seemed caught off guard. Zelenskyy told the news site Axios within minutes of Trump’s post that the ceasefire came as news to him, DW reports. “If President Trump negotiated it with Putin, please tell us when the ceasefire begins; we are ready and we will accept it,” he told Axios, in DW’s rendering. The Guardian describes the deal as announced “apparently without consulting” Zelenskyy.

Zelenskyy later backed the idea in writing. “Ukraine supports the ceasefire, and it is important that Russia support it as well. We are awaiting details from the American side,” he wrote on Telegram, according to Al Jazeera.

Moscow had not spoken by the time the outlets published. DW reports no immediate confirmation from Moscow. The Guardian goes further, saying it saw no sign that the Kremlin had observed Trump’s ceasefire: Zelenskyy said Russian drones flew “throughout the day” on Sunday and that several airstrikes hit targets including “our energy infrastructure.” According to The Guardian, he said Russian forces struck thermal power station No 5 in the eastern city of Kharkiv, which he described as the latest of more than 200 strikes this week on Ukrainian electricity generation and transmission, plus 17 more hits on gas and oil facilities.

The announcement capped a fast-moving feud. The Guardian reports that the row began on Friday, when Trump said he would lift sanctions on Russian diesel exports to cut fuel prices before next month’s US midterm elections. DW notes that the move undercuts US sanctions Trump signed weeks earlier to hurt Russian energy revenue. Zelenskyy called the decision “weak” and said it would hand Vladimir Putin extra money for the war, “perhaps billions,” according to The Guardian.

Trump answered on Saturday by attacking Ukraine’s strikes on Russian refineries. “He better damn well stop,” Trump told reporters at the White House, according to Al Jazeera, which also quotes him saying, “I think it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president.” Zelenskyy replied that choosing a leader “it’s up to Ukrainians,” Al Jazeera reports, and he told ABC News he would organise elections only if Putin agreed to a “total” 60-day ceasefire, according to The Guardian.

Earlier on Sunday, before Trump’s post, Zelenskyy had said Ukraine would halt attacks on Russian oil refineries if Moscow stopped hitting Ukrainian energy infrastructure, Al Jazeera and DW report. The Guardian says he wanted any deal to come “reciprocal” and backed by “real guarantees,” meaning penalties on Moscow from Ukraine’s allies, including the US.

Pressure on Kyiv seems to come from several directions. The Guardian, citing the Financial Times, reports that the US has threatened to stop the procurement system that supplies Ukraine with weapons to push Kyiv to halt its deep strikes on Russian energy sites. The Guardian also cites a New York Times report that US officials offered the Kremlin economic incentives, reportedly including the release of frozen Russian sovereign assets, in exchange for a ceasefire. This desk did not read the FT or NYT reports directly.

European leaders lined up behind Zelenskyy. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote that she “fully supported” a “ceasefire that protects global food supplies and energy infrastructure in Ukraine and Russia,” DW reports, and French President Emmanuel Macron said France backs a “real energy ceasefire” while lamenting that “Russia continues to refuse that.” According to The Guardian, Downing Street said UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Zelenskyy agreed “to maintain pressure on Russia,” and a statement added: “Russia should agree to an immediate energy ceasefire, ending its brutal strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure and its attacks on shipping in the Black Sea.”

Kyiv did not stand down its own campaign before the announcement. DW reports that Ukraine hit a data centre run by Russian technology company Yandex on Sunday, the third strike on the company’s facilities in four days. Whether the truce takes hold seems to depend on a word from Moscow that, as of these reports, had not come.