TRUMP’S “ENERGY TRUCE” IS REALLY A SHIELD FOR RUSSIAN REFINERIES
Just when the proposal appeared unable to become any more one-sided, the White House clarified what Donald Trump’s so-called “energy ceasefire” actually means.
According to Axios, the proposed arrangement initially covers only oil refineries. It does not protect Ukraine’s electrical grid, power stations, heating plants or other energy infrastructure. A wider agreement covering those facilities might supposedly come later.
In other words, this is not an energy truce. It is a refinery truce built around the part of Russia’s war economy that Ukrainian drones have been successfully dismantling.
The White House reportedly calls it “refinery for refinery,” which sounds mutual until the two countries are placed beside each other. Ukraine has one repeatedly attacked refinery operating below full capacity and relies heavily on imported gasoline and diesel. Russia has an enormous refining industry that generates revenue, supplies its military and has become one of Ukraine’s most effective strategic targets.
Hours after Trump announced his “energy ceasefire,” Russia struck Kharkiv’s CHP-5 power and heating plant. Under the narrow White House definition, that attack may not even violate the proposal because CHP-5 is not an oil refinery
That tells Ukrainians exactly what this arrangement would protect: Russia’s gasoline, Russia’s diesel and Russia’s export income. Ukrainian families, hospitals and cities could remain exposed to attacks on the electricity and heating systems carrying them through winter.
Axios also reports that the White House believes Ukraine’s refinery campaign is causing greater damage to Zelenskyy’s relationship with Trump than to Russia. That judgment ignores refinery fires, falling production, disrupted exports, fuel shortages and the considerable resources Moscow has been forced to divert toward protecting and repairing its energy industry.
Calling this an “energy truce” is generous. It is closer to a Russian oil and diesel protection plan—announced as an agreement before Ukraine knew about it and before Russia had publicly accepted anything.
The title was misleading. The terms are unequal. And after the strike on Kharkiv’s CHP-5, the intended beneficiary is becoming painfully clear.- Ukraine News