Kyiv and Moscow trade accusations after energy ceasefire deal
A look back at 19 March 2025, when drone attacks and rival claims followed the Trump–Putin agreement on energy infrastructure.
What did a ceasefire on energy infrastructure amount to a day after it was agreed? On 19 March 2025, the answer was a fresh round of accusations from both sides.
The agreement had been reached on 18 March 2025 in a phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The two agreed to an immediate energy infrastructure ceasefire in Ukraine, with further negotiations on a permanent settlement to begin at once. Putin stated that ending all foreign military and intelligence support to Ukraine would be one condition of such a settlement.
On 19 March 2025, Russian forces launched drone attacks on Kyiv overnight, following the talks between the U.S. and Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia was trying to discredit Trump's peace negotiations.
Moscow made its own allegations. The Russian Ministry of Defense said Ukraine had violated the energy ceasefire by launching a drone attack on an oil depot in Krasnodar Krai. A day earlier, on 18 March 2025, the ministry had claimed that Ukrainian forces tried to launch an offensive on Belgorod Oblast with five assaults before being stopped, and described the alleged attacks as an attempt to discredit Trump's peace negotiations.
Both governments thus used the same language, accusing the other of undermining the U.S. president's diplomacy.
