Washington: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed surprise following an announcement by US President Donald Trump that Kyiv and Moscow had agreed to an "energy ceasefire," but stated that Ukraine would accept the truce if Russia honours it.

Speaking to digital news outlet Axios on Sunday, President Zelenskyy acknowledged that he was unaware of the agreement prior to President Trump’s public statement.

"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," Zelenskyy said.

President Trump posted on social media earlier on Sunday stating that both nations had agreed to a halt in attacks on energy infrastructure, effective immediately, adding: "Do not break it!" The White House did not provide further clarification or details regarding the terms of the agreement.

The announcement follows an interview aired earlier on Sunday with ABC’s This Week, where President Zelenskyy indicated Ukraine was willing to cease strikes on Russian refineries if Moscow halted its bombardment of Ukraine's energy grid.

"We are asking President Trump, (to) give them (a) signal, not (to) attack energy infrastructure of Ukraine," he said.

Political tensions and election calls

The diplomatic exchange comes amid heightened political friction between Washington and Kyiv. On Saturday, President Trump suggested Ukraine should hold a presidential election to replace Zelenskyy, blaming him for high fuel prices in the United States.

President Zelenskyy responded by stating that Ukraine could organise elections if Russia agreed to a temporary halt in hostilities.

"Give us two months, 60 days off. Total ceasefire, 60 days, and we will organize elections," Zelenskyy said, adding that Ukraine would accept whichever candidate its people chose.

"With all respect to President Trump, it’s up to our society, up to our people to choose one or another leader," he noted.

Under Ukrainian law, elections are prohibited while martial law remains active following Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Holding a vote also presents severe security and logistical challenges, with roughly a fifth of Ukrainian territory occupied and millions of citizens displaced. While Zelenskyy’s term formally expired in May 2024, the Ukrainian constitution dictates that the incumbent remains in office until a successor is sworn in.

President Trump has faced criticism from Ukrainian and European officials after reaching an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin to purchase Russian diesel in an effort to curb US fuel prices ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.

Escalating drone attacks and regional casualties

Despite the talk of a truce, long-range aerial strikes continue unabated. A Ukrainian drone strike on Sunday disabled a major data centre operated by Russian technology giant Yandex in the city of Vladimir, east of Moscow. The facility—the third Yandex site targeted in four days following strikes in Ryazan and Kaluga—caused widespread outages across ride-hailing, banking, and online retail services in Russia, Belarus, Armenia, and Kazakhstan.

"As a result of the drone attack, the infrastructure of Yandex’s data center in Vladimir was damaged. Operations at the data center have been completely halted. There were no injuries," the Yandex Cloud Telegram channel reported.

Concurrently, rescue operations concluded in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia following a Russian bombing on Saturday. President Zelenskyy confirmed that 23 people were killed in the attack, including four children, with over 30 others wounded. Meanwhile, local Russian officials in the Bryansk border region reported one man was killed and two women were injured in a separate Ukrainian drone strike. (AP)