Russia accused Ukraine on Wednesday of conducting sabotage strikes against electricity infrastructure in the Kuban region, terming them as an act of trying to sabotage the peace initiatives launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump over the ongoing war.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that they had already publicized information on a directive by President Putin ordering the suspension of strikes on Ukrainian power plants for 30 days, which is also the period of these Ukrainian attacks.
Peskov clarified that Ukraine did not attempt to retract their strikes and thus their moves went against the joint efforts aimed at achieving peace.
In turn, Ukraine insisted that it would comply with a ceasefire agreement on energy infrastructure if such an agreement is made at a future technical meeting with the United States in Saudi Arabia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made it clear that "energy facilities" and "infrastructure facilities" must be covered by any ceasefire agreement, and he emphasized the importance of creating a mechanism to track adherence to the ceasefire.
The telephone call between Presidents Putin and Trump on Tuesday was based on the demand for peace and ceasefire to put an end to the war in Ukraine. Both leaders concurred that they start the peace talks with a ceasefire on energy facilities and infrastructure installations and continue to negotiate technically on a Black Sea maritime ceasefire. This would be followed by moves toward a complete ceasefire and lasting peace, with immediate negotiations to take place in the Middle East.
Nevertheless, the Russian Defence Ministry indicated that Kyiv still carried out drone strikes against the energy facilities in the Krasnodar territory, characterizing the attacks as a "premeditated provocation" with the intent of undermining the peace process.
Peskov indicated dismay that the Ukrainian government failed to respond with a ceasefire move and reaffirmed that the assault on Russia's energy facilities continued unabated despite the appeals for peace.
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