The proposal made by Zelensky to Putin, through American negotiators, on the occasion of Easter
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that he would ask US mediators to pass on a proposal for an energy truce to Russia by Easter. On Wednesday, the leader from Kiev is to have a new discussion with representatives of the United States and the head of NATO, according to Reuters.
Zelenski said he will hold a video conference with US President Donald Trump's emissaries Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Wednesday to discuss the status of Washington-brokered peace talks between Kiev and Moscow.
The US, Russia and Ukraine have held three rounds of talks in Abu Dhabi and Geneva this year, and a fourth was due to take place in March but was postponed due to the war in the Middle East. Recently, Zelensky said the Trump administration is making security guarantees for Ukraine conditional on the surrender of Donbas, a region Russia considers a key military objective but does not fully control.
In recent weeks, Ukrainian forces have stepped up their attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure to prevent Moscow from taking advantage of rising prices in the sector and the temporary relaxation of some sanctions.
On Monday, Zelensky revealed that some of Kiev's allies have sent “signals” that the intensity of long-range Ukrainian attacks targeting Russia's oil sector may be reduced, given the situation on the global energy market.
He said Ukraine is ready to do the same if Russia stops attacking the Ukrainian energy system.
“I will certainly convey this proposal to the United States tomorrow and I will certainly ask them to convey it to the Russian side,” Zelenskiy told reporters attending an event to commemorate the victims of the Bucha massacre.
“If they attack us, we will respond. If they agree to stop attacks on our energy infrastructure, we will reciprocate,” the Ukrainian leader added.
How the Kremlin had commented on the possibility of an Easter truce
Also on Tuesday, but before Zelenski's statements, the Kremlin said it had not received a “clearly formulated” proposal for an Easter truce.
“In Zelensky's statements that I read, I did not see any clearly formulated initiative regarding an Easter truce,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“Zelensky must take responsibility and make the appropriate decision to achieve peace, not just a truce,” Peskov added.
