A 30-day moratorium on Russian strikes against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has expired, the Kremlin said Friday, ending a short-lived pause that was announced after a call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump.
“A month has indeed passed,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “As of this time, there have been no other instructions from the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, President Putin.”
Russia announced the moratorium on March 18, one of the few concrete outcomes of Trump’s efforts to broker a ceasefire in the three-year conflict.
One week later, U.S. officials held separate meetings with Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Saudi Arabia, after which the White House said both sides had agreed to “develop measures” to implement an agreement to halt strikes on each other’s energy infrastructure.
However, no formal agreement was ever reached, and the timeline for when the commitments took effect remains unclear. Both sides have accused each other of targeting energy sites over the past month.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed the truce as a hollow gesture, saying Russia never intended to stop its bombardments “despite Putin’s words.”
The end of the moratorium raises concerns that Russia may resume its systematic campaign to degrade Ukraine’s power grid ahead of next winter.
AFP contributed reporting.
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