All news
Yermak described the mechanism of "negotiations" with Russia on energy
Earlier, the FT reported that Ukraine and Russia were negotiating to stop attacks on each other's energy infrastructure. Peskov called this information a falsification. Yermak said that such negotiations were ongoing, but not directly.
Ukrainian President Andriy Yermak said at a telethon that Ukraine is not holding direct negotiations with Russia to stop mutual attacks on energy facilities.
According to him, this topic was discussed at a “thematic meeting” organized by Qatar, which took place without Russia’s participation.
"After that, we changed our principles. Please, if today Qatar or any other country is ready to implement these agreements through a separate agreement with Ukraine, for example, through an agreement with the Russian Federation. The same applies to the situation with food security," he said (quoted by Ukrainska Pravda).
Citing informed sources, the Washington Post earlier reported that Ukraine and Russia planned to send their representatives to Doha to participate in talks to stop attacks on energy infrastructure of both sides. However, the attack by Ukrainian troops on the Kursk region stopped indirect talks, the newspaper's interlocutors said. At the same time, Russia did not cancel talks with Qatari officials, one of the interlocutors noted. "They (Moscow representatives) told us to give them time," he added.
Sources told the Financial Times on October 30 that Kyiv and Moscow had resumed "exploratory talks" brokered by Qatar to stop attacks on each other's energy infrastructure. A diplomat familiar with the talks described them as "very early talks about the possibility of resuming something." Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the article as a fake.
According to the FT, Kyiv and Moscow had already reached a "tacit agreement" last autumn not to attack each other's energy facilities. However, the Ukrainian drone attack on the oil refinery has led the Russians to consider these agreements a violation.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has previously said that peace would be closer if Ukraine and Russia agreed not to attack energy infrastructure. In September last year, he said that Russian airstrikes had destroyed all thermal power plants and a significant portion of hydroelectric capacity. The country's energy system has been destroyed by up to 80%, Zelensky said, warning that millions of Ukrainians could be left without heat this winter.
The Russian Defense Ministry has repeatedly reported attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities. The Kremlin has linked these attacks to "military needs." According to Peskov, these facilities "sometimes have a direct relationship to the country's military potential, and sometimes an indirect one." Accordingly, our military is taking all necessary measures to successfully continue special military operations," he said.