KYIV, Sept 14 (Reuters) – Ukraine is ready to halt strikes on Russia if its partners ensure that Moscow will refrain from hitting Ukrainian energy facilities, infrastructure and food supply routes, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday.
Zelenskiy’s comments, posted on Telegram, appeared to amount to a denial that Ukraine had formally endorsed U.S. President Donald Trump’s statement that Ukraine and Russia had agreed not to hit each other’s energy targets.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine was not convinced that Russia was willing to abide by any agreement.
“Ukraine is not certain that Russia is willing to stick to any agreement,” he wrote.
“The war must be brought to an end. And a de-escalatory step regarding critical infrastructure could be the first step toward peace. We expect specifics from our partners.”
Ukraine was willing to sign on to an agreement to refrain from strikes on infrastructure, he said, but any such accord had to be “reliable, long-term, and actually have a real impact on people’s lives”.
In his statement, Trump said the two sides had agreed not to hit each other’s energy targets.
“Ukraine has agreed not to hit Russian Energy targets. Russia has agreed to do, likewise!” he wrote.
(Reporting by Olena Harmash, Editing by Timothy Heritage and Ron Popeski, Ros Russell)
