On Sunday morning, President Trump surprised many by declaring on Truth Social the immediate implementation of an ‘energy ceasefire’ between Russia and Ukraine. He stated that both nations agreed to the ceasefire and urged them to uphold it. Yet, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed surprise through an Axios interview, indicating this was news to him as well. Zelensky remarked, ‘Please tell us when the ceasefire begins; we are ready and we will accept it.’
Despite this claim, Russia launched attacks later that day, targeting Kharkiv’s Combined Heat and Power Plant No. 5 and a grocery store, causing fatalities and injuries. Observers noted this situation mirrored a dramatic Greek tragedy of unintended consequences.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dismissed Trump’s announcement, claiming Zelensky hadn’t earned a cease in hostilities and rejected what they saw as false promises. With this, Trump had to retract his statement, admitting there was no genuine ceasefire agreement, but that he assumed an agreement because he declared one.
Since the well-publicized confrontation between Trump and Zelensky in February 2025, Putin has seemingly manipulated Trump’s actions, buying time for Russia’s struggling military operations in Ukraine. Historical precedence shows that Putin exploited the August 2025 Alaska summit by maintaining Russia’s strict negotiating stance and later dissuaded Trump from supplying Ukraine with specific missiles. Even Trump admitted the potential manipulation by Putin, raising concerns over the 28-Point Plan accepted the prior November, which implicitly endorsed illegal Russian territorial claims.
Trump consistently encounters deceptive offers from Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s envoy and head of Russia’s Sovereign Fund. Dmitriev seeks to accomplish through Trump what Russian military forces have not achieved on Ukraine’s battlefield — essentially, Zelensky’s downfall. This was evidenced in August 2025, when Putin inked a decree reopening Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project deals to ExxonMobil alongside various business propositions.
Dmitriev later proposed ambitious projects like a potential Bering Strait tunnel to Elon Musk’s Boring Company and other joint ventures designed to strain European and Ukrainian relations. His grander offers culminated in the ‘Dmitriev Package’, which included $14 trillion in energy and infrastructure deals contingent on compromises by Ukraine and NATO.
Most recently, Dmitriev lobbied Jared Kushner with a Nord Stream arrangement and a scheme involving the acquisition of international assets from Russian Lukoil, valued over $20 billion. Ironically, surging diesel costs due to the U.S.’s involvement in Iran provided Russia another opportunity to pressure Trump. Needing a political win before midterm elections, Trump agreed to lift sanctions and to purchase considerable quantities of Russian diesel, sparking bipartisan criticism.
Amidst these developments, Russia’s persistent bombing of Ukraine, especially its energy infrastructure with winter looming, underscores the peril in Trump’s actions. The narrative from ‘The Persians’ resonates here, cautioning that unchecked pride yields adverse outcomes. Mark Toth, a national security writer and Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Sweet, with years in military intelligence leadership, co-founders of INTREP360, offer these insights.