President Donald Trump departs after speaking at a campaign rally, Friday, Oct. 9, 2026, at the Oncenter convention center in Syracuse, N.Y. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP)
EA on TVP World: Selling Out Ukraine — The Trump-Putin Deal on Russia’s Diesel Fuel
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Sunday’s Coverage: Trump — Zelensky Should Be Replaced
UPDATE 0526 GMT:
Russia suffered a loss of more than 50,000 military personnel in September, including more than 28,000 soldiers killed, reports a NATO official.
The total is the highest in 2026. Ukraine’s General Staff estimated 46,230 Russian personnel losses during the month. The General Staff did not give a number of fatalities.
The NATO official said Ukraine’s armed forces suffered 5,000 casualties last month.
UPDATE 0520 GMT:
The toll has risen to three civilians killed, including two teenagers, and 25 injured from a Russian missile strike near Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv on Sunday.
The slain were a 16-year-old boy and two women aged 19 and 51. The missile landed near a grocery store and several residential buildings.
Among the injured were two girls aged 13 and 9.
Three Ukrainian troops were killed and three wounded byaA Russian drone strike on Ivano-Frankivsk in western Ukraine.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Donald Trump has lied about an agreement by Ukraine and Russia to an “energy ceasefire” in Moscow’s full-scale 55 1/2-month invasion.
Trump posted on social media on Sunday, “Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed.”
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky pushed back the claim:
The ceasefire announcement was news for me. But if Russians agree to an energy ceasefire Ukraine will agree. If President Trump negotiated it with Putin — please tell us when the ceasefire begins — we are ready and we will accept it.
A senior Ukrainian official said, “Just now our repair teams are restoring electricity and water supplies in Kyiv [following Russian strikes].” He emphasized that “nobody has heard” of the ceasefire.
The Kremlin did not comment.
After Trump’s post, Zelensky discussed the proposed energy ceasefire with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
“For our part, Ukraine has always FULLY supported steps toward de-escalation, the protection of lives, and the decisions necessary to end the war and ensure lasting peace,” Zelensky said.
Von der Leyen “fully supported” Zelensky’s call “for a ceasefire that would protect global food supplies and energy infrastructure in Ukraine and Russia”.
Noting that “the war has entered a new, grimmer phase”, she posted:
Russia is stalling on the battlefield and striking civilians far behind the front lines.
I conveyed our solidarity with the Ukrainian people. And my full support for President Zelensky as he leads the fight for his people’s freedom.
US Threats to Kyiv
Ukraine has supported a mutual halt to attacks on energy infrastructure. However, Russia — seeking to force Ukrainian surrender with massive airstrikes this airstrike — has refused to make any commitment.
Senior Ukrainian officials met Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Miami, Florida on Friday and Saturday to discuss the proposal. However, the talks were overshadowed by Trump’s deal to purchase diesel fuel from Russia, undermining US sanctions and propping up the struggling Russian economy with billions of dollars.
US officials reportedly threatened to cut off intelligence sharing to Ukraine, and to halt arms transfers to Kyiv unless the Ukrainians halt counter-attacks on Russian energy infrastructure..
The Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List was instituted in 2025 after the Trump Administration stopped all direct US military assistance to Kyiv. Under the scheme, NATO members buy weapons from the US and transfer them to Ukraine.
Early Sunday, Trump called for Zelensky’s replacement: “I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal because he could have made many deals and for some reason he never does.”
Zelensky responded in an interview with the US outlet ABC News:
If President Trump really wants to have elections, tell Putin give us two months, 60 days of total ceasefire — 60 days — and we will organize elections. Of course, we will be ready for any choice of our people.
