KYIV, Feb 2 (Reuters) – Russia has largely observed a ceasefire on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday as Kyiv prepared for the next round of trilateral talks on how to end the war.
Zelenskiy said that Russia had not carried out any targeted missile or drone strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in the past 24 hours, but steady Russian shelling hit energy facilities near the front line.
“The de-escalation measures… are helping to build public trust in the negotiation process and its possible outcome. The war needs to be ended,” Zelenskiy said after he met his negotiating team ahead of the next round of peace talks with Russian and U.S. officials scheduled to take place this week in Abu Dhabi. “Ukraine is ready for real steps. We believe it is realistic to achieve a dignified and lasting peace.”
In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy noted that Russian forces had continued to shell Ukrainian positions and logistics, damaging transmission lines and other sites in parts of the southeastern Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.
He said the pause in strikes on energy infrastructure underscored the fact that U.S. efforts to pursue negotiations to end the war were having an impact.
“This demonstrates that when the United States has the motivation to genuinely change the situation, the situation can indeed change,” Zelenskiy said.
Russia and Ukraine said last week they halted strikes on each other’s energy infrastructure, but disagreed on the timeframe for the truce.
The Kremlin said U.S. President Donald Trump had made a personal request to Russian President Vladimir Putin to refrain from striking Kyiv until February 1. Zelenskiy said the truce was supposed to last for a week, starting January 30.
UKRAINE STRUGGLES TO RESTORE POWER SUPPLIES
Ukraine is struggling to restore its battered energy system and secure electricity and heat for the population after several large Russian strikes this month. Repair work has been complicated by bitterly cold temperatures.
“Today we are coming to the critical point. We need some time to recover what is destroyed for the last three months,” said Maxim Timchenko, CEO of private energy producer DTEK. “Energy ceasefire is extremely important for us to recover partly and avoid any tragic consequences because of no power supply.”
DTEK said on Monday one of its coal mining enterprises in the Dnipropetrovsk region had been attacked for the second time in 24 hours. The previous strike on Sunday killed 12 miners, the company said.
Zelenskiy also said Russian forces were focusing on attacking transport logistics, especially railway infrastructure.
Regional officials said that a Russian strike had killed a father and a son, and wounded two children and their mother in the frontline Donetsk region.
(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka, Olena Harmash and Mykhailo Moskalenko; Writing by Olena Harmash, Editing by Ros Russell and Ethan Smith)
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