The Kremlin has welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for Ukraine to halt strikes on Russian fuel infrastructure, as Kyiv said it was prepared to suspend such attacks if Moscow also agreed to stop targeting Ukrainian energy and other critical infrastructure.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said yesterday that any appeal for Ukraine to stop attacking Russia’s civilian economic infrastructure was welcome.
“Any call on the Kyiv regime to stop attacks on civilian economic infrastructure can only be welcomed,” Peskov told reporters during his daily conference call.
Trump had on Sunday called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to stop attacks on Russian diesel-producing facilities, saying the strikes were contributing to a fuel shortage that was “hurting the world”.
Ukraine has carried out a series of long-range drone attacks on Russian oil refineries and other energy facilities in recent months. The strikes have reduced Russia’s fuel production and contributed to shortages, including gasoline, in several parts of the country.
Kyiv has said the attacks are intended to increase the economic cost to Moscow of continuing its invasion of Ukraine.
Russia has also faced gasoline shortages in numerous regions, with fuel disruptions adding to domestic economic pressures ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for September 18 to 20.
Peskov said instability and fresh escalation in the Persian Gulf region were primarily responsible for worsening conditions in global energy markets.
He added that Russia’s decision to restrict diesel exports should help increase supplies in the domestic market.
Meanwhile, Zelenskiy said Ukraine was ready to stop attacks on Russian targets if its international partners could secure guarantees that Moscow would refrain from attacking Ukrainian energy facilities, infrastructure and food supply routes.
His comments, posted on Telegram, appeared to clarify that Kyiv had not formally accepted Trump’s assertion that Russia and Ukraine had reached an agreement to stop attacking each other’s energy targets.
“Ukraine is not certain that Russia is willing to stick to any agreement,” Zelenskiy said.
He added that ending the war remained the ultimate objective and that a halt to attacks on critical infrastructure could provide an initial step towards de-escalation.
“The war must be brought to an end. And a de-escalatory step regarding critical infrastructure could be the first step toward peace. We expect specifics from our partners,” he said.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine was willing to participate in an agreement prohibiting attacks on critical infrastructure, but insisted that any arrangement must be “reliable, long-term, and actually have a real impact on people’s lives”.
Trump, however, had stated that both sides had already agreed to refrain from attacking energy targets.
“Ukraine has agreed not to hit Russian Energy targets. Russia has agreed to do, likewise!” Trump wrote.
