Russia is preparing to strike Ukraine’s energy system this winter, and in response to blackouts Ukraine will try to “respond with dignity”, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at the YES conference, LB.ua reports.
At the same time, he said, negotiations always remain an alternative. “The negotiating process must be about ending the war,” Zelenskyy stressed.
He added that if Russia is not ready to end the war immediately, progress towards peace could happen gradually — in particular through unblocking the Black Sea and reaching an “energy truce”, under which neither side strikes the other’s energy infrastructure.
Talks with Russia: What We Know
- Trilateral talks between Ukraine, the United States and Russia stopped after the start of the US-Israeli operation against Iran in February this year. So far, Ukraine and Russia have held only bilateral meetings with US representatives.
- On 6 September, negotiator Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited Kyiv for the first time. They made the trip after visiting Moscow. The United States and Ukraine hope to resume meetings in the trilateral format, but no specific dates have yet been announced.
- During last year’s and this year’s negotiations, the sides worked on a plan to end the war. No consensus was reached on the issue of territory. Russia is demanding that Ukraine withdraw its troops from the whole of Donbas. The United States is proposing the creation of a free economic zone there, but it is unclear who would administer it and what guarantees there are that Russia would not seize the rest of the territory. Kyiv is категорично against any territorial concessions and the withdrawal of the army.