MOSCOW, March x (Reuters) – The Kremlin on Tuesday responded coolly to a proposal from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for an Easter energy attack truce, saying it had not seen detailed proposals and favoured an overall peace deal instead.
Zelenskiy, who said that some of Ukraine’s allies had sent Kyiv “signals” about the possibility of scaling back its long-range strikes on Russia’s oil sector as global energy prices surge, said on Monday that Ukraine was ready to reciprocate if Russia stopped attacking the Ukrainian energy system.
Kyiv, he said, was open to an Easter ceasefire.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made it clear Moscow was sceptical of the idea when asked about the Ukrainian President’s offer even though Russia’s Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga has been repeatedly struck by Kyiv in recent days.
“In the statements by Zelenskiy that we have read, we have not seen any clearly formulated initiative regarding an Easter truce,” Peskov told reporters.
“Zelenskiy must take responsibility and make the appropriate decision so that we achieve peace, not merely a ceasefire,” Peskov added, saying the longer Zelenskiy delayed the higher the price of peace would be for Kyiv.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Lucy PapachristouEditing by Andrew Osborn)
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