The Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Sergei Shoigu for the first time commented on the statement of The Washington Post (WP) about secret negotiations with Ukraine regarding the cessation of attacks on the energy industry. He stated that Putin allegedly accepted Turkeyʼs offer not to attack energy infrastructure, nuclear power facilities, and the civilian merchant fleet. However, according to Shoigu, Ukraine rejected such an idea.
He stated this on the air of one of the Russian TV channels.
In mid-August, The Washington Post, citing its own sources, wrote that Ukraineʼs offensive in the Kursk region disrupted secret talks with Russia, mediated by Qatar, to end strikes on energy and energy infrastructure from both sides.
Then the Office of the President of Ukraine replied that the face-to-face meeting was postponed "due to the situation in the Middle East", but it will be held online on August 22.
At the press conference, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky for the first time commented on the WPʼs statements about the impact of the offensive Kursk operation on the negotiations regarding attacks on the energy sector. He confirmed that the meeting did not fail — it was held online. And the offensive on Kurshchyna and the negotiations on energy, according to the head of state, "these are completely unrelated things."
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly stated that Kyiv will consider a full ceasefire only on the condition that Russia first withdraws all its troops from Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, which was occupied in 2014.
- Putin, on the other hand, demanded the complete withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions within their administrative borders. Also, Kyiv must officially abandon plans to join NATO — only then will Russia go to negotiations.