By Yuliia Dysa and Dmitry Antonov
KYIV/MOSCOW, March 31 (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday he would ask U.S. mediators to pass Kyiv’s offer of an Easter ceasefire for strikes on energy infrastructure to Russia, after the Kremlin said it lacked any detailed proposals.
Zelenskiy said he would meet online on Wednesday with U.S. negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner – U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law – as well as NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte to discuss the status of U.S.-brokered peace negotiations with Russia over its war in Ukraine.
The U.S., Russia and Ukraine have held three rounds of high-level, trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi and Geneva this year in a bid to negotiate an end to Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War Two. A fourth round of talks due this month was postponed due to the Iran conflict, amid an ongoing deadlock over the vital question of territory in eastern Ukraine.
In an effort to stop Russia benefiting from high oil prices and an easing of sanctions in the wake of the Iran war, Ukraine has escalated its attacks on Russian energy infrastructure in recent weeks. On Monday, Zelenskiy 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. Zelenskiy stated Ukraine was ready to reciprocate if Russia stopped attacking the Ukrainian energy system.
“I will definitely convey this proposal to the U.S. tomorrow, and I will definitely ask them to pass it on to the Russian side,” Zelenskiy told reporters at an event to mark the fourth anniversary of a massacre in Bucha, a town near the capital Kyiv. “If they attack us, we will respond. If they agree to stop the attacks on our energy infrastructure, we will reciprocate.”
KREMLIN REACTS COOLLY
Earlier on Tuesday, the Kremlin had responded coolly to Zelenskiy’s talk of an energy truce, saying it had not seen detailed proposals and favoured an overall peace deal instead.
As the price for peace, Russia is insisting that Ukraine cede to it the parts of the eastern region of Donbas it has been unable to conquer during four years of war – something Zelenskiy has steadfastly refused to consider. Russia already controls around four-fifths of the industrialized region.
The recent wave of Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian energy installations, particularly at Baltic Sea ports, as well as a disputed strike on a major pipeline and the seizure of oil tankers at sea has halted at least 40% of Russia’s oil export capacity, according to Reuters calculations based on market data.
Nevertheless, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made it clear Moscow was sceptical of the idea of an energy truce.
“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 Ukraine.
Later on Tuesday, Zelenskiy said Russia’s threats to seize more Ukrainian territory outside Donbas made it clear that their long-term goals went well beyond the region. Russia, he said, had told the U.S. it could conquer the remainder of Donbas in two months as Moscow pressed to wrap up talks before the U.S. Congressional mid-term elections later this year.
“I’m surprised anyone can believe this,” he said, adding that Ukraine was also keen to reach a “diplomatic solution” but would only agree to a ceasefire “where we currently stand”.
Kyiv believes it can keep defending its remaining “fortress belt” of industrial towns and cities in Donbas for years, citing the glacial pace of Russia’s frontline advances since 2023 as its soldiers run into a defensive wall of Ukrainian drones.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Lucy Papachristou and Daniel FlynnEditing by Andrew Osborn and Keith Weir)
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