KYIV, Oct 11 (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he was waiting for the details of an energy ceasefire with Russia announced by US President Donald Trump on Sunday, but that Ukraine supported such an agreement.
Zelenskiy also said that Russian forces were maintaining their attacks on Ukrainian energy targets regardless of Trump’s announcement.
“Ukraine supports the ceasefire, and it is important that Russia support it as well. We are awaiting details from the American side,” Zelenskiy said in a post on the Telegram app.
He noted that he had discussed Trump’s announcement with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Finnish President Alex Stubb.
“For our part, Ukraine always FULLY supports steps toward de-escalation, the protection of lives, and the decisions needed to end the war and guarantee lasting peace,” Zelenskiy said.
Speaking later in his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said Russian forces were still launching air attacks on energy infrastructure, including a strike on a joint heating and power plant in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.
“Right now, there are Shaheds in the sky,” he said, referring to Iranian-designed drones.
“And there were strikes, unfortunately, with aerial bombs. There were strikes on our energy infrastructure. Just now, there was a strike on the joint power and heating plant in the city of Kharkiv – hitting Kharkiv’s energy system.”
Zelenskiy said there had been more than 200 strikes on Ukrainian generating capacity in the past week and 17 on oil and gas installations.
Introducing an energy ceasefire was “good news for everyone,” he said. “It is important that it become part of reality.”
He repeated Ukraine’s longstanding position that Kyiv was ready to halt all strikes on Russian energy installations if Russia halted attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
There has not yet been any reaction in Russia to Trump’s statement.
(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa and Daniel Flynn; Editing by Alexandra Hudson, Ron Popeski and Bill Berkrot)
Comments