Zelensky ready to halt energy strikes if Russia does

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine was ready to halt strikes on Russian energy sites if Moscow agreed not to attack Ukraine's energy system.

“We are ready for any kind of format of energy ceasefire” if Russia agrees to “not attack our energy system,” Zelensky told journalists on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.

Zelensky said he did not know Russia's position. He said he hoped the United States would find a way to bring Moscow to negotiations.

The comments came after Zelensky met US President Donald Trump in New York. Zelensky described the meeting as positive and productive and wrote on X that both the United States and Ukraine wanted the war to end before winter.

Trump said last week that Ukraine and Russia had agreed not to target each other's energy facilities, a day after he criticised Kyiv for hitting Russian oil refineries.

Washington-led efforts to broker a deal to end the war have stalled in recent months. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Russia and Ukraine have for months carried out long-range strikes on a growing number of civilian sites, including factories, warehouses, energy and port infrastructure, and ships in the Black Sea.

French President Emmanuel Macron had also called for Russia and Ukraine to agree to a moratorium on strikes on energy and civilian infrastructure, saying civilians must be protected.