Zelenskyy says Ukraine is ready for ‘de-escalatory steps’ if Russia does the same

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that his country is ready to take "de-escalatory steps" if Russia agrees to do the same. According to Zelenskyy, the US has made a "strong proposal" for a mutual halt to strikes on critical infrastructure. He expressed willingness to support de-escalation if it means stopping Russian strikes on Ukraine's critical infrastructure and vice versa.

Zelenskyy noted that Russia is feeling pressure due to Ukraine's precise responses against Russia's war economy. However, he emphasized that so far, there has been no genuine desire from Russia to end the war. The comments from Zelenskyy come after US President Donald Trump announced that Ukraine and Russia had agreed not to hit each other's energy targets, although Russia made no immediate comment on the claim.

The situation is being closely watched as international oil prices continue to climb, with Trump previously berating Ukraine's attacks on Russian refineries, blaming them for causing a shortage in diesel fuel. According to National Post, Zelenskyy said Ukraine will make its own de-escalatory steps if the US succeeds in securing a real readiness from Russia to stop the war.

Brief written by urgent.news from National Post, The Mainichi, Malay Mail, New Straits Times, South China Morning Post — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.