Ukraine's incursion into Russia is disrupting plans for indirect talks in Qatar on mutually halting strikes on energy infrastructure, the Washington Post (WP) wrote on Aug. 17, citing undisclosed official sources.
Kyiv previously said it aims to hold the first international conference dedicated to energy security in August in the Middle East as a follow-up to the Switzerland peace summit. Russian nor Ukrainian officials have not confirmed any plans for an alleged "energy ceasefire" deal.
Russia has launched a massive campaign with drones and missiles against Ukrainian energy infrastructure over the spring, destroying or disabling power plants and necessitating rolling blackouts across the country.
In turn, Ukraine has been targeting Russian oil facilities with long-range drones to undermine Moscow's fossil fuel revenue, one of its key sources of income.
Qatar, which has sought to position itself as a mediator in the war, reportedly offered to host the meeting in its capital, Doha. Both Kyiv and Moscow planned to send their delegations for indirect talks mediated by Qatari officials, the WP wrote.
An undisclosed diplomatic source reportedly told the outlet that Russian officials postponed their meeting with Qatari officials in the wake of Ukraine's cross-border incursion that began last week. Moscow has not called off the talks completely as of now, the source added.
Two sources told the WP that senior Ukrainian officials were skeptical about the deal even before the start of the incursion, putting its chances of success at 20% or lower as they doubted Russia's sincerity. Other officials were hoping that it could be a first step toward a more comprehensive peace deal, the outlet wrote.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims.
Timothy Ash
Kyiv launched its cross-border push on Aug. 6, reportedly capturing dozens of settlements and over 1,000 square kilometers since then. In the meantime, Russia continues its push in Ukraine's east, inching toward a key logistics hub in Donetsk Oblast, Pokrovsk.
This was the first time Ukrainian regular soldiers entered Russian soil since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, occupied large swathes of Ukraine's sovereign territory, and laid waste to its villages, cities, and infrastructure.
The Ukrainian leadership has previously indicated that the incursion could strengthen Kyiv's position in any possible future talks with Moscow. Ukraine and Russia have not held direct peace talks since unsuccessful negotiations in early 2022 in Belarus and Turkey.
Russia was not invited to the global peace summit held in Switzerland in June, but Kyiv said it wants to invite a Russian representative to a follow-up conference. Ukraine hopes to present Moscow with a peace plan developed jointly by the summit participants.
The peace plan is based on President Volodymyr Zelensky's 10-point peace formula, with one of the articles centered around energy security. This topic was to be discussed at the August conference.
Ukraine's Presidential Office told the WP that the in-person conference was postponed "due to the situation in the Middle East" but would be held in video format on Aug. 22.
