Ukraine is ready to consider the possibility of an agreement on mutual cessation of strikes on energy infrastructure with Russia — but only with the mediation of Qatar or another country.
This was stated by the head of the Presidentʼs Office (OP) Andriy Yermak in an interview with journalist Natalia Moseichuk in a telethon. He clarified that there are currently no negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.
Ukraine held thematic conferences (all without the participation of the Russian Federation), the first of which was about energy security. One of its co-organizers was Qatar. On it, the countries recorded the principles regarding this point of the Peace Formula.
According to the head of OP, if Qatar or another state is ready to implement agreements on the cessation of strikes on energy facilities through agreements separately with Ukraine and separately with the Russian Federation, then Kyiv can work them out. The same applies to food security.
"If there are such agreements, Ukraine is ready to consider them, because it absolutely corresponds to the principles laid down in the Peace Formula of Ukraine," Yermak added.
As an example, he gave the "grain corridor", when there were two agreements: between Turkey, the UN and Ukraine, and between Turkey, the UN and Russia.
- At the end of October, the Financial Times, citing a source, wrote that Ukraine and Russia are conducting preliminary negotiations on ending strikes on each otherʼs energy infrastructure. And Kyiv wants Qatar to be the mediator.
- In August 2024, The Washington Post journalists wrote that Ukraineʼs offensive in Kursk region disrupted secret negotiations with Russia on a mutual cessation of strikes on energy infrastructure.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly stated that Kyiv will consider a full ceasefire only if 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.
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