President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine is ready to support a mutual halt to strikes on energy infrastructure, but only on the condition that it has the means to defend itself against Russian attacks.
He said this in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, an excerpt from which he published on social media.
Zelenskyy stressed that Ukraine wants to maintain open and honest relations with the United States, based on transparency. During the full-scale war, bilateral co-operation has taken on particular importance, and he is grateful to Washington for its support.
Zelenskyy: Ukraine and the US have more in common than the US does with Russia
"We have always built our relationship on honesty, fairness and, most importantly, transparency. Because if you lie while your people are at war, it is very painful. That is why I have always wanted to hide nothing and not lie to the President of the United States. In any case, we have more in common than America does with Russia," the head of state explained.
Separately, Zelenskyy explained Kyiv’s position on a possible energy truce. Ukraine is ready not to strike Russian energy facilities if Russia stops attacking Ukrainian gas, electricity and oil facilities.
At the same time, the president stressed the imbalance of a situation in which Russia continues to hit Ukraine’s energy sector while Ukraine must refrain from responding. If the United States insists on such a step, it should provide Ukraine with interceptor missiles to protect critical infrastructure.
"America cannot stop them. Let us believe that America very much wants to, but cannot. Then, as a partner, I meet President Trump halfway: if they strike us, we cannot respond to them — that is dishonest and unfair — but if you need it, if you cannot rein in Putin, then give us interceptor missiles so that I can protect the energy sector," Zelenskyy said.
- Earlier, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with Bloomberg that the actions of Donald Trump’s administration may indicate attempts to push Ukraine towards capitulation. According to the president, the US is currently supplying Ukraine with only 12 interceptor missiles for Patriot systems per month — about a quarter of the volumes under the Joe Biden administration. Zelenskyy also reported delays in the delivery of some missiles paid for by Ukraine under the PURL programme.
- The head of state proposed trading a halt to Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries for additional Patriot missiles.