Ukraine and Russia reportedly return to negotiating table for partial ceasefire to halt attacks on energy facilities

Update: Spokesmen for the Russian and Ukrainian presidents have both denied reports of ceasefire negotiations on strikes against energy facilities. Vladimir Putin’s press secretary called it a “fake story” that’s fooled “even the most reputable publications,” while Zelensky administration adviser Mykhailo Podolyak argued that Russia knows no other way to wage war than to attack civilian infrastructure. 

Sources familiar with the matter told The Financial Times that Moscow and Kyiv have resuscitated Qatar-mediated negotiations that reportedly derailed this summer when Ukraine occupied part of Russia’s Kursk region. Ukrainian and Russian diplomats have reportedly returned to Doha for “preliminary discussions” about halting strikes on each other’s energy infrastructure. A senior Ukrainian official told FT that attacks on energy infrastructure have already declined in recent weeks.

In August 2024, The Washington Post reported that negotiations toward this landmark agreement ended with the Kursk incursion. Earlier in October 2024, President Zelensky recently said a deal to safeguard power plants “would be a signal that Russia may be ready to end the war.”