President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine is ready to work on steps toward de-escalating the war and will discuss relevant proposals with its partners on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
According to Zelensky, dialogue is currently underway with US President Donald Trump and the United States on possible ways to bring peace closer.
Zelensky said one of the first steps should be an end to Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector, critical infrastructure and facilities related to food exports. In return, Ukraine is prepared to take matching de-escalation steps.
“Ukraine’s energy sector, critical infrastructure, and our food exports must stop being targets for Russia, and this will lead to matching de-escalation steps on our part. Solutions are possible. We are ready to work on this,” Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian president also stressed that modern technology is changing the nature of warfare, meaning that the consequences can now affect not only the country under attack.
“It will no longer be the case that only the country under attack suffers. The nature of war is now such that the aggressor will suffer as well. Technology makes this possible,” he said.
Zelensky added that Russia’s war against Ukraine must be brought to an end, as every new week of fighting creates more problems, ranging from loss of life and destruction to threats to food and energy security.
Context: Zelensky’s statement came after his phone call with US President Donald Trump. The two leaders agreed to continue discussing diplomatic steps during an in-person meeting in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Axios previously reported that Trump repeatedly raised the issue of Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries during the call, linking them to the situation on the global diesel market.
