Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that Ukraine would support a U.S. proposal to halt attacks on Russian energy infrastructure but warned that Moscow was using the negotiations to delay and weaken Kyiv.
The White House earlier confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin had accepted U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal for a 30-day pause in strikes on Ukrainian and Russian energy facilities. Speaking at an online briefing, Zelenskyy said Ukraine was prepared to back the agreement.
“Our side (would) support this,” he told reporters when asked about the ceasefire proposal, adding that he would welcome any move toward a “stable and just peace.”
Ukraine has launched drone strikes on Russian oil refineries in an effort to undermine Moscow’s war effort, while Russia has repeatedly bombarded Ukraine’s power grid, causing blackouts and damaging gas production sites.
Zelenskyy, however, suggested that Russia was not fully committed to the ceasefire. He pointed out that since Kyiv agreed in principle to the deal at talks in Jeddah last week, Russia has intensified its bombardments.
“Russia has launched more than 1,300 guided bombs, eight missiles, and nearly 600 long-range drones at Ukraine since the talks in Saudi Arabia,” he said.
Ukraine had already proposed the idea of halting attacks on energy infrastructure during those negotiations, he added.
Despite the energy ceasefire agreement, Moscow did not grant Washington the unconditional 30-day truce it had sought. Zelenskyy said Russia’s latest demands, including an end to Western military and intelligence assistance for Ukraine and limits on Kyiv’s military draft, were designed to weaken Ukraine.
The Ukrainian leader said he had spoken with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz following Trump’s phone call with Putin and hoped to discuss the situation directly with the U.S. president.
“I think it will be right that we will have a conversation with President Trump and we will know in detail what the Russians offered the Americans or what the Americans offered the Russians,” he said.
Zelenskyy also sought to reassure Ukrainians that Western military aid would not be cut.
“We are in constant communication. I am confident that there will be no betrayal from our partners and that the assistance will continue,” he said.
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One person was killed and nearly a dozen hurt in a fresh attack on Riyadh's international airport on Sunday, Saudi authorities reported, a day after a strike claimed by Yemen's Houthis killed 13 people and wounded more than 300.
Yemen's Houthis renewed warning to airlines, airport workers, and travellers against using Saudi airports, saying the warning should be taken seriously and that the kingdom “bore responsibility for failed interceptions”, a day after an attack on Riyadh's international airport that killed 12 people.
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said late Monday that it intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched by the Houthi group toward Khamis Mushait in southwestern Saudi Arabia.
The Houthi movement has escalated their attacks on Saudi Arabia, targeting the airport in Riyadh and other cities, killing more than a dozen people.
The Kremlin on Monday rejected a 60-day ceasefire idea proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to allow his country to hold presidential elections, saying it wanted an overall peace deal instead.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia hit at least six energy targets in deadly strikes across Ukraine, showing Moscow is unwilling to accept the energy ceasefire announced by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg joined high school students protesting outside a school in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis on Tuesday, as a wave of student demonstrations continues across France.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has visited a newly opened defence museum displaying weapons developed under his leadership, including an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States.
Southeast Asian foreign ministers are set to discuss measures to tackle transboundary haze during preparatory meetings ahead of the ASEAN summit in November, as forest and land fires in Indonesia continue to affect air quality across the region, the Philippines said on Tuesday.
Britain's Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said the United Kingdom believes Iran was likely behind an alleged plot connected to RAF Fairford, a military airbase in Gloucestershire in England that has played a role in U.S. operations against Iran, escalating tensions between London and Tehran.
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