Zelenskyy's office denied reports about Ukraine's negotiations with Russia

Head of the Office of the President Andrii Yermak, photo of OPU

Ukraine is not conducting any negotiations with Russia, including in the field of energy security, said the head of the President's Office Andrii Yermak.

Radio Svoboda writes about it.

This statement was preceded by the publication of the Financial Times, which, with reference to its sources, reported that Ukraine and Russia are conducting preliminary negotiations to end strikes on each other's energy infrastructure.

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«These negotiations, as they write, supposedly between Ukraine and Russia, are definitely not true. What's going on? We held thematic conferences. The first conference was about energy security, it was online, but it was co-organized by Qatar. And when that conference took place, we fixed the principles on this clause of the peace formula. There was a very large number of countries from different continents. All these thematic conferences are held without Russia. We fixed the principles, we said that if today, for example, Qatar or another country is ready to implement these agreements through agreements with Ukraine separately and, for example, separately with the Russian Federation, please,» Andrii Yermak said in an interview published in broadcast of the national telethon on November 4.

According to him, the situation is the same with food security.

«There was already a grain corridor, the year existed. When there were two agreements: one — Turkey, UN, Ukraine, the second — Turkey, UN, Russia. It was very important for us that the conference took place. Everyone has fixed the principles. If someone is ready to implement the achievements of this conference within these frameworks, please do so. What I know today: no one has any agreements yet. If there are such agreements, Ukraine is ready to consider them. Because this absolutely corresponds to the principles laid down in the peace formula of Ukraine,» said the head of the OP.

He noted that the appearance of reports about negotiations is «perhaps a reaction to these conferences.»

«But I can definitely say that Ukraine is not conducting any negotiations with Russia,» Yermak said.

To a clarifying question about whether the partners demanded from Ukraine not to strike certain objects on the territory of Russia, he answered: «Let's say... Nobody demanded anything from us, but of course we know that the countries will support, for example, with regard to energy security, if two such agreements were brokered by, for example, Qatar or another country.»

«First of all, not because they are worried about something that is happening with Russia, but, realizing that it is also important for us, so that our energy system is not under constant attacks,« said the head of the President's Office.

According to The Washington Post, as early as August 2024, Russia and Ukraine planned to send delegations to Qatar to begin negotiations on the waiver of strikes on energy facilities, but they were interrupted due to the offensive of the Armed Forces in the Kursk region.

At the end of October, the spokesman of the President of the Russian Federation, Dmytro Pieskov, denied that Moscow and Kyiv were negotiating a mutual cessation of strikes on energy infrastructure facilities, saying that «now there are a lot of attacks that have nothing to do with reality.»