Ukraine 'ready to implement' energy ceasefire, mulls US ownership of power plants

Ukraine is ready to halt attacks on Russian energy assets and is resolving "technical issues" around implementing a partial ceasefire, President Volodymyr Zelensky said after a call with US President Donald Trump on March 19.

This comes despite accusations against the Kremlin for continuing attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure.

"One of the first steps toward fully ending the war could be ending strikes on energy and other civilian infrastructure. I supported this step, and Ukraine confirmed that we are ready to implement it," Zelensky said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.

Ukraine previously expressed willingness to accept a full 30-day ceasefire agreement on March 11 but made its position conditional on Russia's agreement. On March 18, the Kremlin responded by pledging to halt attacks on energy and infrastructure, but raised doubts about its commitment by launching new drone strikes overnight.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on March 19 said Trump and Zelensky "agreed on a partial ceasefire against energy", adding that technical teams are due to meet in Saudi Arabia in coming days to discuss broadening the ceasefire to the Black Sea "on the way to a full ceasefire".

Rubio's statement said President Trump also discussed Ukraine's electrical supply and nuclear power plants, positing that "American ownership of those plants would be the best protection for that infrastructure".

Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, about a "very good call" with Zelensky, stating that the one-hour discussion mainly involved briefing the Ukrainian leader on his conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin the previous day.

Moscow's commitment to a partial ceasefire on March 18 appeared to fail in preventing both sides from exchanging drone strikes on energy infrastructure, with Zelensky accusing Russia of targeting Ukraine's energy sector and reports of Moscow mobilizing 150 drones in an overnight offensive.

The same night of March 18, Russia's defense ministry reported Ukrainian drones setting fire to an oil facility in its Krasnodar region.

Russia has increasingly targeted Ukrainian gas production sites in 2025 and recently damaged facilities owned by Ukraine's Naftogaz group and D.TEK. Ukrainian attacks have mainly focused on Russia's refining sector, triggering lasting outages across major plants, including Syzran and Ryazan.

Traders are closely monitoring potential shifts in sanctions policies, with stringent controls on Russian oil flows expected to be a key bargaining chip in peace talks.

In a February research note, investment bank Goldman Sachs said a ceasefire agreement tied to lifted sanctions on Russia could lower oil prices in Europe by around $3/b, forecasting that a potential end to EU import bans could redirect 60 million barrels of oil on water currently on longer, inefficient trade routes back into commercial storage.

Rubio previously said EU sanctions are "likely to be on the table" in any talks with Russia during the peace process. However, European Parliament members called for new, more effective sanctions in a resolution text adopted on March 12 and urged against "hasty deals" that could weaken Ukraine's security.