Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova denied on Aug. 18 a report that the country was entering indirect talks with Ukraine in Qatar on mutually halting strikes on energy infrastructure.
The Washington Post (WP) reported on Aug. 17, citing undisclosed official sources, that Russia was preparing to enter secret indirect talks with Ukraine - facilitated by Qatar - to mutually stop attacks on energy infrastructure. According to the WP, Ukraine's incursion into Russia disrupted plans for those indirect talks.
In response to the report, Zakharova claimed that "no one broke anything off because there was nothing to break off."
"There have been no direct or indirect negotiations between Russia and the Kyiv regime on the safety of civilian critical infrastructure facilities," Zakharova added.
Russia launched a massive campaign with drones and missiles against Ukrainian energy infrastructure over the first few months of 2024, destroying or disabling power plants and necessitating rolling blackouts across the country.
In turn, Ukraine has been targeting Russian oil facilities with long-range drones to undermine Moscow's fossil fuel revenue, one of its key sources of income.
According to the Washington Post, an undisclosed diplomatic source reportedly told the outlet that Russian officials postponed their meeting with Qatari officials in the wake of Ukraine's cross-border incursion that began last week.
Two sources also told the WP that senior Ukrainian officials were skeptical about the deal even before the start of the incursion, putting its chances of success at 20% or lower as they doubted Russia's sincerity. Other officials were hoping that it could be a first step toward a more comprehensive peace deal, the outlet wrote.
The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify any of the claims, and Ukraine has not yet commented on the authenticity of the purported talks.
Russia was not invited to the global peace summit held in Switzerland in June, but Kyiv said it wants to invite a Russian representative to a follow-up conference. Ukraine hopes to present Moscow with a peace plan developed jointly by the summit participants.
The peace plan is based on President Volodymyr Zelensky's 10-point peace formula, with one of the articles centered around energy security.
Martin Fornusek
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