Ukraine and Russian Federation are negotiating on mutual cessation of attacks on energy sector - Financial Times
The Financial Times reports that Ukraine and Russia are holding preliminary talks on mutual cessation of shelling of energy infrastructure.
This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to the FT article.
The newspaper's unnamed source claims that Kyiv is trying to resume negotiations with Qatar's mediation.
The article also states that these talks were allegedly close to an agreement in August, but broke down due to the operation of the Defence Forces in the Kursk region.
"There are very early talks about potentially restarting something. There are talks about energy facilities," the FT source said.
It also notes that the deal would mark the most significant de-escalation of the war since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
This month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that an agreement on the protection of energy facilities could indicate Russia's willingness to engage in broader peace talks.
According to an anonymous Ukrainian 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.
"Both Kyiv and Moscow have previously acknowledged that ending attacks on Ukraine's energy system and Russian oil refineries was in their common interest. But Putin is unlikely to agree to a deal until Russian troops have pushed Ukrainian forces out of the Kursk region, where they still control about 600 square kilometres of territory..." - writes the FT.
The official noted that Ukraine nevertheless plans to continue striking targets, including oil refineries, to force Russia to negotiate.
Four Ukrainian officials told the FT that last autumn, Kyiv and Moscow signed a "tacit agreement" that they would not strike at each other's energy facilities.
