Ukraine and Russia negotiate to stop strikes on energy facilities

Ukraine and Russia are holding preliminary talks to stop strikes on each other's energy infrastructure. However, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is unlikely to agree to the deal as long as Ukrainian troops are in the Kursk region of Russia.

This was reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to the Financial Times.

Kyiv wants to resume negotiations mediated by Qatar, which were close to an agreement in August but were disrupted by Ukraine's invasion of Kursk, according to the newspaper's sources, including senior officials.

“There are very early talks about the possible resumption of something. There are talks about energy facilities,” said a diplomat briefed on the talks.

According to the official, Moscow and Kyiv have already reduced the frequency of attacks on each other's energy infrastructure in recent weeks as part of an agreement reached by their intelligence services.

But Putin, according to a former senior Kremlin official, is unlikely to agree to the deal until Russian troops have pushed Ukrainian forces out of the Kursk region, where they still control about 600 square kilometers of territory.

In the meantime, Ukraine plans to continue striking targets in Russia, including oil refineries, to put pressure on Russia in the negotiations.

According to the newspaper, the Kursk operation led to Moscow's withdrawal from the previous round of talks in August, when officials began planning a face-to-face meeting in Doha.

Qatar began mediating these talks in June after a summit in Switzerland to which Russia was not invited.

Four Ukrainian officials told the Financial Times that last fall Kyiv and Moscow reached a “tacit agreement” not to strike each other's energy facilities. As a result, Russia refrained from launching large-scale attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure that winter.

Author - Dmitriy Levchenko, 30/10/2024