By Olena Harmash
KYIV, April 10 (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the spring and summer months would be difficult for Ukraine as it would face pressure on the battlefield and also diplomatically to end the war.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine’s partners had asked Kyiv to reduce its strikes on Russia’s oil sector as global prices surged due to the Iran war and escalating tensions in the Middle East. He did not name the partners.
But he said that if Russia wanted to de-escalate, it should halt its own strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities and agree to resume trilateral peace talks, mediated by Washington.
He acknowledged, however, that the U.S. was currently reluctant to dedicate much more time to the peace process in Ukraine.
“This spring–summer period will be quite difficult politically and diplomatically. There may be pressure on Ukraine,” Zelenskiy told reporters in remarks released by his office on Friday. “There will also be pressure on the battlefield.”
“I believe it will be very difficult for us until September.”
Zelenskiy reiterated his calls for more international pressure on Russia. With a two-week ceasefire announced by the U.S. and Iran on Tuesday, Zelenskiy expressed hope that U.S. sanctions on Russian oil – temporarily eased during the conflict – would be fully reinstated.
In March, the U.S. issued a 30-day waiver for countries to buy sanctioned Russian oil and petroleum products in an attempt to stabilize global energy markets roiled by the Iran war.
PARTNERS ASK UKRAINE TO SCALE BACK STRIKES ON RUSSIAN OIL
In recent weeks, Ukraine has increased attacks on Russian energy facilities, aiming to curb its oil revenues as Moscow was benefiting from soaring oil prices and the easing of U.S. sanctions.
The Ukrainian military has claimed responsibility for more than a dozen attacks on Russian oil facilities, with the most significant strikes hitting Russia’s Baltic ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk, the country’s largest petroleum export outlets.
“Russians now have major problems with some of their facilities. After any strike on our energy sector, we respond – and that is entirely fair. If Russians want this to stop, they must stop their strikes, and then we will act in kind.”
Zelenskiy said that during Iran’s blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, Ukraine’s partners had asked it to scale back its strikes on Russian oil facilities, but he responded that Russian oil does not have a significant impact on the global market.
If Russia wanted to de-escalate, trilateral talks on how to end the war diplomatically should take place during the next three months, Zelenskiy said.
Three rounds of trilateral talks this year have yielded no significant progress, with Ukraine refusing to accede to Russia’s demand that it relinquish the remaining areas of the eastern Donbas region that Moscow has been unable to conquer.
Fighting rages on along more than 1,200 km of the front line, and both Russia and Ukraine are increasing their drone attacks on targets far from the front lines.
(Reporting by Olena Harmash; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Jan Harvey)
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