Zelenskyy on energy truce: There were no direct deals with Russia
Photo: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Ukraine is ready to take steps toward de-escalation and will mirror the energy truce, although it was not discussed directly in Abu Dhabi, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters.
“Various issues, the most sensitive ones, were discussed in Abu Dhabi. The American side also spoke with us separately. And the Americans said they wanted to raise the issue of de-escalation – to demonstrate steps on both sides to refrain from using long-range capabilities to provide more space for diplomacy,” Zelenskyy said.
He emphasized that the Ukrainian negotiating team called to consult, and during the conversation, the president confirmed that Ukraine would adhere to a mirror approach to such steps.
“In any case, we want to end the war, and we are ready for de-escalation steps. If Russia does not attack us, we will not take corresponding steps. That's all, and we have already discussed this principle before. This is an opportunity, not an agreement,” the head of state added.
He also stressed that there is no official agreement on a ceasefire yet. According to him, if Russia hears the signal from the American side in the same way that Ukraine heard it, then there will be some result, and it will be possible to evaluate it.
“There are no secrets. There has been no direct dialogue or direct agreements on this between us and Russia,” Zelenskyy added.
What energy facilities are we talking about?
"If Russia does not attack our energy sector, whether it be power generation or any other, we will not attack their energy sector. I think this is the answer that the mediator of the negotiations, the US, was hoping for. We always demonstrate that we support all rational American initiatives, we support any real initiatives for de-escalation, etc.," the president of Ukraine said.
He also said that dialogue in a trilateral format is also a path to de-escalation, but the result of such steps is another question.
“This is the policy we chose a little less than a year ago. We support all real de-escalation steps and consistently demonstrate this. So that no one can accuse us of slowing down the process of moving towards peace. But then there were negative responses from Russia. We'll see how it goes now,” the head of state summed up.
Yesterday evening, January 30, US President Donald Trump unexpectedly announced that he had agreed with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin to stop attacks on Ukraine. Later, the President of Ukraine confirmed the information about an energy truce with Russia.
