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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that Ukraine is prepared to take “de-escalatory steps” if Russia does the same, as the U.S. pushes for a mutual halt to strikes on energy and critical infrastructure.
In his daily address, Zelenskyy pointed to what he called “a strong proposal from the United States regarding a mutual halt to strikes on critical infrastructure.”
“If this can become the first de-escalatory step — stopping Russian strikes on our critical infrastructure, and ours in response — then Ukraine is ready to support de-escalation,” he said.
U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier Monday that Ukraine and Russia had agreed not to strike each other’s energy targets.
Trump has argued that the Russia-Ukraine war, rather than the conflict with Iran, is responsible for the sharp rise in fuel prices facing Americans.
He also said he had told Zelenskyy not to allow attacks on Russian diesel refineries.
Zelenskyy, however, said Ukrainian strikes were putting pressure on Russia’s wartime economy.
“We see that the Russians are feeling pressure because of our precise responses against Russia’s war economy,” he said.
Zelenskyy said Kyiv had not yet seen evidence that Moscow genuinely wanted to end the war.
“So far no one has seen any genuine desire from Russia to move toward ending the war,” he said.
“But if our American partners succeed in securing a real readiness from Russia to stop this war of destroying lives, and to do so sincerely and for the long term, Ukraine will make its own de-escalatory steps.”
A previous effort by Trump to secure a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war has been sidelined by the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, which is now in its seventh month.
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