President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukraine is ready to stop strikes on Russian oil refineries if Russia stops attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
He made the statement on his social media.
"Ukraine will be ready to stop strikes on Russian refineries if Russia stops striking our energy infrastructure. Any de-escalation steps must be reciprocal and come with genuine guarantees," the head of state stressed.
However, Russia continues to attack Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure. In particular, in Zaporizhzhia, search-and-rescue operations were completed after a Russian strike that killed 23 people, including four children.
The president also mentioned a Russian strike on a medical facility in Kharkiv and an attack on a five-storey residential building in Sloviansk, where an entrance section was destroyed and people may have remained trapped under the rubble.
According to Zelenskyy, in just one week Russian forces launched at Ukraine about 1,450 guided aerial bombs, 75 missiles of various types and more than 1,640 attack drones. About 60% of the drones were jet-powered.
The president also reported continued coordination with European leaders to strengthen defence support for Ukraine. Above all, this concerns additional air-defence systems and munitions for combat aircraft.
"The real cause of the war in Europe is Russia, and only Russia. It is already possible today to stop strikes on the energy sector, but Putin does not want to do that," Zelenskyy said.
Context
- On the evening of 9 October, President Trump said he had agreed with Putin on supplying diesel fuel from Russia to the US and global markets.
- According to him, Russia will "immediately" supply more than 300,000 tonnes of fuel, another 500,000 tonnes during November, and 1 million tonnes straight after that.
- Zelenskyy said that any easing of sanctions against Russia without a clear and lasting de-escalation agreement is an obvious sign of weakness, and Russia will inflict even more damage and losses on the world.
- AXIOS reported that Trump decided to strike a deal with Russia on diesel fuel after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy refused, at Washington’s demand, to unilaterally stop strikes on Russian refineries.
- US envoys also threatened that the United States could cut off Ukraine’s access to intelligence if Kyiv continued to ignore Trump’s demands.
- Trump also criticised Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying he was "not ready to make deals" and that Ukraine should choose a new leader who could agree an end to the war.
- Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the Ukrainian negotiating team is being used as a "smokescreen". According to him, while Ukrainian representatives in Florida were discussing a ceasefire in Ukraine with the Americans, Trump was negotiating with Putin.
- The president noted that the fuel-supply agreements would bring Russia billions of dollars in additional revenue, which it could channel into continuing the war.
- On the evening of 10 October, Zelenskyy adviser Dmytro Lytvyn said that the Ukrainian delegation is already returning home from the United States. The second day of talks was "not exactly cancelled", but the first did not proceed as planned.