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 yesterday 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.
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