Ukraine and Russia are reportedly holding preliminary discussions about stopping attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure, the Financial Times reported on Oct. 29.
Earlier talks mediated by Qatar in August nearly reached an agreement but fell through after Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk Oblast. Discussions, in the early stages, are expected to resume sometime soon.
Moscow remains firm that Ukrainian troops must withdraw from Kursk before any agreement is made.
Ukraine launched a cross-border incursion into Kursk Oblast in early August, allegedly seizing around 100 settlements and over 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles). Russia began a counteroffensive in the region in September, with reportedly minimal success.
According to a senior Ukrainian official, energy infrastructure attacks have already decreased in the past few weeks, based on a deal established through Ukraine and Russia’s respective intelligence agencies.
With winter approaching, Ukraine faces critical energy challenges due to the prior damage inflicted by extensive Russian strikes.
Between March and August of this year, Russia destroyed all thermal power plants and almost all hydroelectric capacity in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sept. 25 during his speech at the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
Sonya Bandouil