Ukraine Ready to Halt Infrastructure Strikes in Mutual Agreement with Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed readiness to halt strikes on critical infrastructure as part of a mutual arrangement with Russia, endorsing a US de-escalation proposal. The move follows an announcement by US President Donald Trump that both sides had agreed to stop targeting energy infrastructure. Kyiv's position is explicitly reciprocal and conditional on Russia ceasing attacks on Ukrainian facilities. Former US Ambassador Daniel Fried cautioned against unilateral concessions by Ukraine, calling reciprocity essential. Meanwhile, the US House Rules Committee advanced legislation that would impose sweeping sanctions and tariffs targeting Russia's energy revenues.

In a Truth Social post, Trump said the Russian delegation had conveyed its acceptance of the same conditions. Kyiv's position rested on a mutual framework: any halt to its own offensive operations would require verifiable assurances that strikes on power networks, logistics corridors, food supply routes, and other civilian infrastructure by Russian forces would likewise cease. Russia welcomed Trump's call for Kyiv to halt attacks on energy infrastructure but did not commit to a parallel restraint on its own strikes against Ukraine, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov telling reporters on Monday that any such appeal directed at Ukrainian forces would be received positively. The development followed a 13 September phone call in which Trump urged Zelensky to stop drone strikes on Russian fuel infrastructure; at the same time, Russian forces were carrying out attacks across Ukraine, including near the Polish border, with Trump pointing out that alternative targets existed. Trump called on reporters to stop attacking Russian diesel infrastructure, remarks that followed by about a week the visits of envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to both Kyiv and Moscow as the administration pursued a negotiated end to the conflict. Daniel Fried, a former Ambassador to Poland and onetime Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, told a broadcaster that a mutual infrastructure arrangement had merit, while noting that placing the onus of restraint on Ukraine alone would be unwise, and that a joint agreement to shield energy infrastructure from attack was a far more equitable path than pressing Kyiv unilaterally to cease strikes on Russian fuel assets. Fried contended that attacks on Russian energy infrastructure had produced verifiable outcomes, and that Kyiv should receive concrete guarantees before agreeing to suspend them, rather than accepting asymmetric terms — even when pressed by Washington. Fried contested the assertion that Ukraine was primarily responsible for the rise in diesel prices, describing the claim as lacking factual support. He contended that pressure should be directed at Moscow rather than Kyiv, asserting that any pursuit of increased Russian oil supplies on global markets ought to be paired with diplomatic leverage to end the war — and that compelling Ukraine to make one-sided concessions would yield no benefit to the United States. Asked whether Trump would sign the bill into law if it passed through Congress, Wilson replied that he would.

Ukraine Ready to Halt Infrastructure Strikes in Mutual Agreement with Russia

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Ukraine Ready to Halt Infrastructure Strikes in Mutual Agreement with Russia

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