Moscow (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The Kremlin said, Russia is ready to consider a proposal by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for a halt to attacks by both countries on each other’s civilian infrastructure.
The previous day, Zelenskiy stated that Ukraine was prepared for any type of dialogue to halt the assaults on civilian infrastructure.
“Ukraine maintains its proposal not to strike at the very least civilian targets. And we are expecting a clear response from Moscow,”
He stated.
“We are ready for any conversation about how to achieve this.”
Can talks halt attacks on vital civilian infrastructure?
As reported by Reuters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that President Vladimir Putin was prepared to discuss the complex topic. However, he informed reporters that there are currently no specific plans for discussions between Russia and Ukraine.
Both parties face pressure to show progress in resolving the war in Ukraine, which is now in its fourth year, following U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat last week to withdraw efforts to facilitate a deal between them.
When asked about the Kremlin’s reaction, Peskov mentioned that the issue should be examined, considering the lessons from the 30-hour Easter ceasefire that Putin announced over the weekend.
He did not clarify the link between the two matters. Both sides blamed one another for violating the Easter truce numerous times and for breaking the moratorium that the U.S. facilitated last month regarding attacks on energy targets like power grids and oil facilities refineries.
“Actually, the president explained the complexity of this topic just yesterday, answering journalists’ questions. That is, if we talk about civilian infrastructure facilities, we need to clearly differentiate in what situations these facilities can be a military target, and in what situations they cannot,”
Peskov said.
Will Putin agree to a true civilian truce?
He quoted Russian president as stating that a civilian facility could become a military target if enemy combatants were meeting there.
“Therefore there are nuances here that it makes sense to discuss,”
Peskov said.
Throughout the conflict, civilians have died in both Ukraine and Russia, but the casualties are significantly higher in Ukraine. On April 13, at least 35 individuals lost their lives due to a Russian missile strike in the Ukrainian city of Sumy, which Kyiv claims was a targeted assault on civilians. Conversely, Russia contends it was aimed at a gathering of Ukrainian military officials.
Zelenskiy stated on Monday that the “main objective” at talks between Ukraine, the U.S., and European nations would be to advocate for an unconditional ceasefire. Last month, Ukraine accepted the idea of a complete 30-day ceasefire; however, Putin countered with a long list of questions and stipulations about how it would be carried out.
