Putin rejects proposed pause in Russia-Ukraine energy strikes
At a Moscow forum, the Russian president said Moscow preferred talks but warned of nuclear weapons use if Russia faced a direct attack on Kaliningrad.
Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected a proposed reciprocal pause in attacks on energy infrastructure, saying Russia was responding to Ukrainian strikes. Speaking on Thursday at the Valdai political forum in Moscow, he dismissed the proposal as “simply ridiculous”.
The remarks followed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s statement after meeting US President Donald Trump in New York on 22 September that Ukraine was ready to stop striking Russian energy facilities if Russia halted attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. The report does not indicate that a formal agreement had been negotiated.
Putin said Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries had cost Russia 1 per cent of its gross domestic product. The estimate was his own and was not independently verified in the report.
He said Russia would prefer to end the conflict through talks and wanted Ukraine to be neutral after hostilities. He also warned that, in the event of a direct attack on Russia, including Kaliningrad, use of all weapons available to Moscow would be considered, a threat that included nuclear weapons.
The warning followed a Russian diplomatic note that NATO said it had received, cautioning against an attempt to cut off Kaliningrad. Separately, Kyiv officials reported that a Russian drone struck a school in the city on Thursday; they said there were no casualties.
