By Tom Balmforth, Antoni Slodkowski and Simon Lewis
UNITED NATIONS, Sept 23 (Reuters) – Ukraine and Russia have both voiced an interest in a limited ceasefire involving grain and energy-related targets, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday after meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in New York.
Ukraine and its allies have pressed for a moratorium in attacks on energy infrastructure and for guarantees on Black Sea shipping, fearing Russia could target power and heating facilities this winter.
“I think both sides have expressed an interest in some limited ceasefire that involve grain and energy. Obviously, you know, that won’t be easy either,” Rubio told reporters.
Russia has given no public indication it is ready to agree to such arrangements, and it was not immediately clear whether Rubio was suggesting movement in his talks with Lavrov.
Rubio said it was a particular challenge that energy strikes were at the core of both countries’ tactical priorities in their war, which is now in its fifth year.
Addressing the 15-member Security Council on the sidelines of the annual UN gathering of world leaders, Lavrov indicated that Moscow would not countenance any temporary cessation of hostilities.
“Europe, whatever it thinks, just wants to get a pause, and it wants to use it to pump the Kyiv regime with weapons,” he told a council session focused on the war in Ukraine.
Britain, France and Denmark’s top diplomats used their speeches to deliver strong condemnations of Russia’s war, warning variously of dangerous escalation and the spike in civilian deaths this summer.
‘WE ARE WAITING FOR RUSSIA’S RESPONSE’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who was expected to address the General Assembly later on Wednesday, met US President Donald Trump on Tuesday and said they had discussed a ceasefire on energy-related targets.
Zelenskiy told leaders at a “Crimean Platform” summit on the sidelines of the UN that Kyiv was ready for a maritime truce in the Black Sea based on proposals such as those put forward by Egypt, India and Turkey.
Zelenskiy spoke ahead of the council meeting on Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“We are waiting for Russia’s response. Ukraine is ready … to ensure safe shipping and food security in the Black Sea if Russia is ready to take real steps towards de-escalation too. We have to start somewhere,” he said.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told the Security Council it was essential that navigation recommence in the Black Sea: “Eleven million tonnes (of food) risk spoiling. The damage will last many years if we don’t restore freedom of navigation now.”
Top wheat importers in Asia, the Middle East and Africa that count on the Black Sea region for wheat have been finding it hard to secure supplies. Global wheat prices have soared.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told the Security Council that France backed moratoriums on attacks against energy infrastructure and in the Black Sea as a first step toward de-escalation.
Ahead of the Lavrov-Rubio meeting, the Kremlin said there were no grounds for wider peace negotiations, though it remained open to them.
“For now, there are no prerequisites for moving on to a peaceful negotiating track, although we, as the Russian side, remain open to peace talks,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that he would be ready to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin at a trilateral meeting with Trump.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth; editing by Howard Goller)
Comments