Ukraine is ready to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries if Russia stops attacking our energy infrastructure, - Zelenskyy
Ukraine will be ready to stop strikes on Russian oil refineries if Russia stops striking Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced this on his Telegram channel, according to Censor.NET.
Strike at Russian Oil Refineries
According to him, the real cause of the war in Europe is Russia, and Russia alone.
"It is possible to stop the attacks on the energy sector today, but Putin does not want to do so. Ukraine will be ready to stop the attacks on Russian oil refineries if Russia stops attacking our energy infrastructure. Any de-escalation measures must be reciprocal and backed by genuine guarantees," the head of state emphasized.
Shelling of Ukraine
Zelenskyy also expressed his gratitude to all emergency services, which are always there for our people and work to mitigate the consequences of Russia’s brutal attacks.
He noted that search and rescue operations had only just concluded this morning in Zaporizhzhia, where Russia killed 23 people, four of whom were children. Yesterday in Kharkiv, the Russians struck a medical facility; last night, there were Russian strikes on civilian infrastructure, residential buildings, and energy facilities. This morning, the Russians struck a five-story building in Sloviansk—an entire stairwell has been completely destroyed, and people may be trapped under the rubble.
"And this is happening constantly. In total, just this week, the Russians have dropped about 1,450 aerial bombs, fired 75 missiles of various types, and launched more than 1,640 attack drones, about 60% of which are jet-powered," Zelenskyy added.
In addition, he noted that he will continue to coordinate with partners today—there will be talks with European leaders.
"In fact, we coordinate and work on additional defense packages—primarily air defense systems and ammunition for combat aircraft—on a daily basis at various levels. All of this is to protect the lives of our people and Ukraine's interests," Zelenskyy concludes.
What led up to this?
- On October 9, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that he had spoken with Russian dictator Putin, with whom he had agreed on the supply of diesel fuel from Russia to markets in the United States and around the world.
- According to him, Russia will "immediately" supply more than 300,000 metric tons of diesel to the U.S. and global markets, another 500,000 metric tons in November, and another million metric tons "immediately afterward."
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The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that, at Trump's direction, the Office of Foreign Assets Control is immediately issuing a temporary general license to allow the supply of Russian diesel fuel to the global market.
- In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Russia's authorization to sell petroleum products "an investment in war" and urged the U.S. to have a firm conversation with Moscow and impose sanctions under the Lindsey Graham Act.
- As a reminder, amid Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries, Russian authorities have extended the ban on diesel fuel exports several times, at least through the end of October.
- The U.S. president has publicly stated that Ukraine must stop its attacks on Russia’s energy sector because, he claims, this is leading to a diesel fuel shortage. According to him, the shortage is due specifically to the war in Ukraine, not to the U.S. war against Iran.
- Similar statements have been made by other American politicians. For example, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that Ukrainian strikes on Russia’s energy sector are leading to an energy crisis. He cited the war with Iran as the second cause of the crisis.
