Ukraine's Energy Minister comments on information about supposedly disrupted talks with Russia on halting attacks on energy infrastructure

Asked to comment on media reports of supposedly disrupted negotiations with Russia through intermediaries to suspend attacks on Ukraine's energy sector, the country's Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said that his government does not negotiate with terrorists.

Source: Halushchenko in an interview with Ukraine’s TV channel TSN, broadcast during the national joint 24/7 newscast

Quote: "We do not hold negotiations with terrorists, that's for sure, especially not any behind-the-scenes negotiations. This is impossible... Of course, we did not hold these negotiations with the Russians.’

Details: At the same time, Halushchenko said that an online summit on the third point of the Peace Formula, which is energy security, was held on Thursday, 22 August and attended by more than 40 countries and many international organisations.

"We have adopted a joint communiqué for this summit... The key position in this document is that apart from rebuilding Ukraine's energy system, there are no attacks on the energy system. It clearly states that attacks on the civilian power grid are a violation of international humanitarian law and a violation of the UN Charter. And everyone supported this," the minister said.

In his opinion, this document can be presented to the Russians, and several states can act as mediators in this process.

Background:

• On 17 August, The Washington Post journalists reported that Ukraine and Russia were to send delegations to Doha, Qatar, this month to negotiate a historic agreement that would end the attacks on power infrastructure on both sides.
• The article said that the indirect talks, in which Qatar’s officials acted as mediators and met separately with Ukrainian and Russian delegations, were disrupted by Ukraine's surprise invasion of Russia's Kursk Oblast.

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