Russia and Ukraine have traded accusations of violating a ceasefire on strikes on energy infrastructure.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha accused each other of attacking energy sites, speaking at different panels at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkey.
Lavrov said that Russia hasn’t attacked any Ukrainian energy facilities since 18 March, when Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to halt attacks for 30 days in a phone call with US President Donald Trump.
Lavrov accused Ukraine of breaking the terms of the US-brokered deal and said he provided the list of energy sites targeted by Ukraine to the various parties involved in diplomacy efforts.
“We have been keeping the word. And the Ukrainians have been attacking us from the very beginning every passing day, maybe with 2 or 3 exceptions,” said Lavrov.
“I gave to our colleagues from Turkey, to (Foreign) Minister (Hakan) Fidan, what we give to Americans, to UN and to OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe), the list of facts, listing the attacks by Ukraine during the last three weeks against Russian energy infrastructure.”
Sybiha contested Lavrov’s claims, accusing Russia of not being serious about peace, claiming that the Kremlin had launched thousands of projectiles at Ukraine in the last few weeks.
“Russia escalated terror and fought, I have statistics with me, and fought almost 70 missiles, over 2,000 Shahed drones, and over 6,000 guided aerial bombs at Ukraine, mostly at civilians. This clearly shows to the world who wants peace and who wants war,” said Sybiha.
Lavrov also warned that a potential Black Sea deal could only be implemented after issues with insurance, trade, and access to ports for Russian organizations are resolved.
Details of the prospective deal were not released, but it appeared to mark another attempt to ensure safe Black Sea shipping after a 2022 agreement that was brokered by the UN and Turkey but halted by Russia the next year.
“This time, when President Trump suggested that another Black Sea deal, Putin said, yeah, we are ready, but we need to draw lessons from the past,” said Lavrov.
“Let’s resolve the things on trade, insurance, calling on the ports. The Americans took this, and they are considering. They didn’t come back to us after this,” he added.
Russia’s top diplomat said Washington has been considering Moscow’s demands but has yet to reply to them.
The White House said in March that the US “will help restore Russia’s access to the world market for agricultural and fertiliser exports, lower maritime insurance costs, and enhance access to ports and payment systems for such transactions.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that “we’re going to evaluate” the Russian conditions, noting that some of them “include sanctions that are not ours, they belong to the European Union.”
