Ukraine still hopeful of ceasefire as debate rages over who blew up Russian gas station
Ukraine hopes a partial ceasefire can be reached when US negotiators return to the table on Monday. It comes as Russia and Ukraine point fingers at one another over power station attacks.
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Ukraine hopes to secure a partial ceasefire at upcoming talks in Saudi Arabia during which US officials will meet separately with Russian and Ukrainian representatives, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP.
Officials will gather in Saudi Arabia on Monday, where a team of US negotiators will hold separate talks with Ukrainian and Russian delegations – the latest in a flurry of diplomatic initiatives to halt the conflict.
“We still want to agree on a ceasefire, at least on what we have proposed,” the source said, referring to calls for a halt to strikes on energy sites, civilian infrastructure and attacks in the Black Sea.
The source added that the Ukrainian delegation would be led by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, who would handle a “technical discussion” of issues surrounding the implementation of any truce.
Those questions included “what facilities” strikes would be limited against and “how to oversee the ceasefire”, the source said.
The source added that as of yet it was “unclear” when any ceasefire could be implemented. “There have been no reciprocal steps from the Russians,” the source added.
“We need to agree on the main thing: what objects and what control. The Americans have enormous intelligence capabilities, so they see a lot,” the source added.
Russia has so far rejected a joint US-Ukraine plan for a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire, instead proposing the halt to strikes on energy facilities.
The Kremlin says that Russia has already stopped strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, but Kyiv disputes this claim.
Moscow says it will be represented at the talks by Grigory Karasin, chairman of the Senate’s committee on international affairs, and Sergei Beseda, an adviser to the head of the powerful FSB security service.
The pair appear to be of a lower rank than representatives being dispatched by Kyiv or the United States. They are outside more traditional diplomatic institutions, such as the Kremlin, foreign ministry or defence ministry.
The Russian FSB security service in 2014 admitted that Beseda was in Kyiv during a bloody crackdown on the Ukrainian capital in the midst of the country’s pro-EU revolution.
He has been under Western sanctions since 2014. Karasin is a career diplomat. “They are most experienced negotiators with a wealth of experience in this kind of work,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.
It comes as Russian and Ukraine argue over who is responsible for blowing up a Rus
sian gas pumping station located just metres from the Ukrainian border.
The facility in Sudzha is inside a pocket of territory which was seized by Ukrainian forces until they were run out last week.
Russia’s Investigative Committee say the Ukrainians blew up the station as they retreated, labelling it an “an act of terrorism” which had caused “significant damage”.
The Ukrainian army released a statement which read: “The Russians continue to produce numerous fakes and seek to mislead the international community.”
Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief-of-staff, added: “Russian attempts to deceive everyone and pretend that they are ‘adhering to the ceasefire’ will not work, as the fake (news) about the strikes on the gas station will not work.”
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‘NOTHING HAS CHANGED’: RUSSIA ACCUSED OF POWER STATION STRIKE
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has told EU leaders that Moscow had continued strikes on Ukraine’s energy system despite Russian President Vladimir Putin agreeing with US counterpart Donald Trump to halt attacks.
“Yesterday evening, another Russian strike hit our energy infrastructure. We in Ukraine face this every day and night, you know it. And despite Putin’s words about allegedly being ready to stop the attacks – nothing has changed,” Mr Zelensky told an EU summit by video call.
Mr Zelensky also said Moscow must stop making “unnecessary demands” that extend the war, calling for sanctions on Russia to remain in place until it begins pulling out of Ukrainian territory.
“Putin must stop making unnecessary demands that only prolong the war and must start fulfilling what he promises the world,” he told EU leaders by video call, according to an official transcript.
“Sanctions must remain in place until Russia starts withdrawing from our land and fully compensates for the damage caused by its aggression.”
Mr Zelensky urged EU leaders to step up weapon supplies to Ukraine and keep pressuring Russia, as officials from Kyiv and Moscow readied to hold fresh talks with the United States next week.
Europe is scrambling to weigh on the outcome as US President Donald Trump forges ahead with Russia on ending its war on Ukraine, and top military brass gathered in London Thursday to thrash out how to police any peace deal.
STARMER PRESSES ON WITH COALITION OF THE WILLING
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said afterwards that the plans of the so-called “coalition of the willing” around Ukraine were “coming together”.
The London meeting came after Mr Zelensky addressed an EU summit in Brussels via video call, charging that “despite Putin’s words … nothing has changed”.
In Norway, Mr Zelensky said Ukrainian and US officials would meet in Saudi Arabia on Monday to build on US-led efforts to secure a speedy end to the Russian invasion, now grinding into its fourth year.
The Kremlin had earlier confirmed Russian officials would also hold talks with the US side in Saudi Arabia on the same day.
Mr Zelensky poured cold water on Mr Trump’s idea that he could run Ukraine’s power plants, saying he could not legally negotiate ownership of the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station.
“If they want to take it back from the Russians, if they want to modernise it, invest – this is a different question, this is an open question, we can talk about it,” Mr Zelensky added.
Meanwhile, some 30 military leaders from countries keen to help secure any lasting ceasefire in Ukraine huddled at a military base near London.
Russia meanwhile said its air defence units had shot down 132 Ukrainian drones in several regions across the country. Two people were wounded, it added.
RUSSIA AND US TO HOLD TALKS
It comes as Russian and US officials will hold talks on Ukraine in Saudi Arabia on Monday, local time, President Vladimir Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov said.
Donald Trump spoke to both Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky this week and the US is also due to hold talks with Kyiv in the coming days.
“These consultations will take place on Monday, March 24th, in Riyadh,” Ushakov said Thursday in comments published by the Kremlin.
“From the Russian side, they will be attended by Grigory Karasin, chairman of the Senate’s committee on international affairs, and Sergei Beseda, adviser to the head of the FSB security service.”
Mr Ushakov said he had confirmed this after talks with US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz. Both agreed to send “expert groups” for the talks, he added.
The delegations are due to discuss “initiatives” that Mr Putin and Mr Trump spoke about regarding the Black Sea.
The Russian FSB in 2014 admitted that Beseda was in Kyiv during a bloody crackdown on the Ukrainian capital in the midst of the country’s pro-EU revolution.
He has been under Western sanctions since 2014.
Karasin is a career diplomat.
Kyiv has said that the US is due to hold talks with Ukraine in Saudi Arabia in the “coming days”.
It is not clear if they will take place on the same day or if the Russian and Ukrainian delegations will meet.
UKRAINIAN CAPTIVES ADDRESS RUSSIAN COURT
Meanwhile, four Ukrainian men taken captive by Russia at the start of its invasion gave emotional statements in court this week as they faced massive sentences for “seizure of power” and terrorism, Russian media reported on Thursday, local time.
Two of the four left the Ukrainian army years before Moscow launched its full-scale attack in 2022, while another had never taken up arms, according to the Mediazona news outlet.
On top of taking thousands of Ukrainian troops captive since launching its 2022 attack, Moscow has also taken an unknown number of civilians into Russia from occupied Ukrainian territory.
“I have never served in the Ukrainian army, I served in the Soviet army, more than 30 years ago,” Oleg Zharkov, whom prosecutors want to jail for 19.5 years, told the court, according to a transcript published by the Mediazona website Thursday.
“It’s no secret that in any military unit not only soldiers work but electricians, plumbers, handymen … People like me.”
The four spoke at a military court in Russia’s Rostov-on-Don, most of whom were captured during the 2022 siege of Mariupol.
All of them served in Ukraine’s Azov battalion, some of whom worked in civilian roles supporting the army such as cooks or plumbers.
They are among 24 accused of taking part in a terrorist organisation and trying to overthrow Russian authorities – despite not living in Russian territory before their arrest.
Two of the other 20 were exchanged in prisoner swaps, while one died in custody last year.
Oleksandr Mukhin, facing 22 years, served in the Azov battalion for a year between 2017 and 2018.
He said he was taken from his home in Mariupol in March 2022 by “some people, beaten, put a sack on my head and taken away.”
Anatoliy Grytsyk said he had been a soldier his whole professional life and served in Bosnia, Kuwait and Kosovo.
He said his wife had been “shot in the street in front of him.”
“I cannot tell people what I feel, what I went through, what your country did to mine,” he said.
“God forbid you ever feel this.”
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