“President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized that there are no direct agreements between Kyiv and Moscow regarding the cessation of Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy, but talks about this continue, in particular in Abu Dhabi; he also emphasized that Ukraine will act as a mirror to the actions of the Russian Federation.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
President Volodymyr Zelenskyi. OP’s photo Source: the head of state during communication with journalists
Zelensky’s direct speech: “There was no direct dialogue, no direct agreements on this between us and Russia.”
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Details: Speaking about the cessation of Russian strikes on energy, the president recalled that this issue was raised in Abu Dhabi.
“During the meeting in Abu Dhabi, various issues were discussed, the most sensitive. Also, the American side spoke with us separately. I don’t know if they spoke with Russia. They probably did. And the Americans said that they want to raise the issue of de-escalation – on both sides to demonstrate one or another steps not to use long-range capabilities in order to provide more space for diplomacy,” Zelenskyy said.
He once again emphasized that Ukraine supports any de-escalation initiatives – and Kyiv has consistently demonstrated this since the meetings in Saudi Arabia last year regarding the ceasefire.
“We were ready for this at the time. The American side wanted it. We then chose the format of such work – we support all real de-escalation steps, and we consistently demonstrate it. So that no one could accuse us of slowing down the process of moving towards peace or the initiative of the United States. But then there were negative responses from Russia regarding such de-escalation steps. We will see how (will be – ed.) now,” said the president.
At the same time, he added that if Russia continues to shell Ukraine, in particular to destroy its energy industry, then Kyiv will act in a mirror manner – and will also try to hit the facilities that are involved in the maintenance of the Russian military machine.
Prehistory:
- US President Donald Trump said he personally asked Russian leader Vladimir Putin to stop airstrikes against Ukraine for a week due to severe frost.
- On Thursday, January 29, Russian pro-war publics began to spread information on social networks about the order banning attacks on Ukrainian energy, which came on January 28.
- Volodymyr Zelenskyi, in turn, confirmed that the Ukrainian negotiating team discussed the issue of ending strikes on energy infrastructure in Abu Dhabi.
- In Kyiv due to massive Russian attack On January 24 and damage to critical infrastructure, 6,000 houses (half of the city’s housing stock) were left without heat supply.
- As of January 30 in the capital without heating after the Russian attack on the night of January 24, 378 high-rise buildings remain.
- The UkrHydromet Center and the State Emergency Service have warned about gradual decrease in temperature in the last days of January and at the beginning of February – in the northern regions at night it is forecast to be 26-30 degrees of frost.