The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, offered this Sunday to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, the possibility of a bilateral energy truce. The offer comes in the midst of bombings by Moscow on different Ukrainian regions that also receive responses from kyiv. At the same time, the announcement comes hours after US President Donald Trump, in a new snub, again unilaterally pressured Ukraine to stop its offensive and even declared that Zelensky should leave the country's presidency.
"Ukraine is ready to stop attacks on Russian refineries if Russia stops attacking our energy infrastructure. Any step towards de-escalation must be mutual and with real guarantees," Zelensky said in a statement. The president has held talks in recent hours with several of his allies, such as the heads of government of France and the United Kingdom, and affirms that he will continue with this round of contacts. The main objective, says the president, is to obtain “additional defense packages, mainly anti-aircraft systems and ammunition for combat aviation.”
The moment is especially delicate for kyiv, since just two days ago Trump announced an agreement with Putin to release hundreds of thousands of barrels of diesel with the intention of lowering the price of fuel, the rise of which he blames on Zelensky for his attacks on Russian territory. The pact between Washington and Moscow has taken place despite the sanctions and embargoes that weigh on Russia for the invasion of its neighboring country.
The reality is that the current price of diesel, which has suffered a significant increase in the world market, is essentially due to the war waged by the United States and Israel against Iran at the end of last February. Trump sees as a burden for the upcoming midterm elections on November 3 that not only has he not been able to end that war but that his own population is paying for increasingly expensive fuel, which is seen as a boost to his already low popularity.
Nor has it been an obstacle to the agreement between Trump and Putin that a negotiating delegation from kyiv was already in Miami (Florida) engaging in talks with Trump's team to try to move towards peace. In fact, the kyiv Government announced that the first objective that it was going to try to achieve during this weekend's meetings would be precisely an energy truce.
Blackouts in Ukraine
Over the past few days, different regions have suffered supply cuts due to the latest Russian attacks. The capital, kyiv, has experienced power outages and water cuts. The lack of power in the network has even led to public transport that depends on electricity such as the subway, trolleybuses and trams having to stop for hours.
Zelensky has gone so far as to show his anger with the authorities for not having ready the resilience plan that should deal with this type of emergency. All when in a few weeks winter will punish the population with much colder temperatures.
On Saturday, Russia carried out its third major massacre of civilians this week. On Sunday morning, efforts continued to recover bodies, up to 23, including three children, in a building in Zaporizhzhia. Previously, 22 people had been killed in Priluki, Chenihiv region, on Wednesday, and 30 more in the attack on two buses on Thursday in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region.
A new attack has hit another block of flats this Sunday in Sloviansk (Donetsk), where emergency services are carrying out rescue efforts for residents. “In total, this week alone the Russians launched approximately 1,450 aerial bombs, 75 missiles of different types and more than 1,640 attack drones, of which approximately 60% are jet,” Zelensky denounced.
