The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, during a meeting with journalists, made an important statement regarding possible ways to end the active phase of the war. In his opinion, the mutual cessation of strikes on energy facilities can be the key step that will help reduce tensions and bring the end of hostilities closer.
Zelenskyy emphasized that although the negotiations do not exclude either defensive or offensive actions, the adoption of political decisions can still change the dynamics of the conflict. He gave a specific example that was discussed at the first Peace Summit:
“We have come to a decision regarding energy security. If we don’t attack their energies, they don’t attack ours. Will this bring an end to the hot stage? I think so“.
In addition, the president noted that the cessation of attacks on energy infrastructure will help reduce the overall tension in the war. He also added that a similar effect can be observed in the case of the cessation of Russian attacks on the grain corridor, Ukrainian ports and ships, which would contribute to the safety of shipping.
“If we are talking about free navigation, the decision that can be made at the Summit is that no one has the right to strike at civilian ships and it is not possible to block the seas, especially the Black Sea, in our case. But this does not mean that they will not use, for example, drones against some of our military targets, and we will not attack their military targets.” – noted Zelensky.
We will remind that after the beginning of the Ukrainian operation in the Kursk region in August of this year, The Washington Post reported on the planned negotiations between Ukraine and Russia regarding the cessation of mutual attacks on the energy infrastructure. According to Le Monde, Qatar took the initiative to hold such a meeting after the first Peace Summit in Switzerland. However, the Russian side then denied these reports.
