President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday Ukraine would support a U.S. proposal to stop its attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, but warned that Russia was trying to delay the U.S.-led negotiations and weaken Kyiv by making new demands.
The White House said earlier that Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal for a month-long halt on strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure, as the two leaders spoke by phone on Tuesday.
"Our side (would) support this," Zelenskiy told reporters during a quickly-organised online briefing, when asked about the idea of a moratorium on energy strikes.
Ukraine has used long-range combat drones to pound Russian oil infrastructure such as refineries in an effort to hurt its much larger foe, which has rained down missiles and drones far behind the front lines in Ukraine since the February 2022 full-scale invasion.
In particular, Russian strikes have hammered Ukrainian power stations, causing large-scale blackouts, and more recently also natural gas production sites.
Zelenskiy said he would back any proposal that led to a "stable and just peace."
Moscow stopped short of giving Washington the full unconditional 30-day ceasefire it had sought.
Zelenskiy said he believed Russia was clearly opposed to the proposal, which Kyiv agreed to in principle at last week's talks with U.S. officials in Jeddah.
Zelenskiy told reporters that Russia had launched more than 1,300 guided bombs, eight missiles and nearly 600 long-range strike drones at Ukraine since the talks in Saudi Arabia.
Ukraine itself proposed the idea of ceasefire on energy infrastructure during the talks, he added.
"This was part of our proposal for the sky and for the sea. With the mediation of the American side, if they are the guarantors of control over the implementation of this ceasefire," he said.
PHONE CALL DIPLOMACY
Zelenskiy said after the Putin-Trump phone call he spoke by telephone with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, both key European allies.
"I think it will be right that we will have a conversation with President Trump and we will know in detail what the Russians offered the Americans or what the Americans offered the Russians," he said.
He also told reporters that he hoped Kyiv's partners would not cut vital military assistance for Ukraine.
"We are in constant communication. I am confident that there will be no betrayal from our partners and that the assistance will continue," he said.
He made the remark when asked about an earlier comment by Putin, who emphasized that any resolution of the conflict would require an end to all military and intelligence assistance to Ukraine.
Zelenskiy said the demand by Putin, as well as another seeking to curtail Ukraine's campaign to draft civilians into the armed forces, looked aimed at weakening Ukraine.
