The Kremlin on Tuesday welcomed US President Donald Trump’s proposal for Russia and Ukraine to stop striking each other’s energy facilities, but said an energy truce alone would not be enough to bring down fuel prices worldwide.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow considered Trump’s proposal a “very good idea”. However, he said other issues, including the safety of oil shipments and sanctions on Russia, also needed to be addressed.Trump had said on Monday that Moscow and Kyiv had agreed to halt attacks on energy targets. Russia and Ukraine have not confirmed the agreement. On the same day, Russia struck petrol stations in Kyiv, while Ukraine said it had targeted a Russian oil refinery.Peskov said Russia would continue discussions with the US on Trump’s proposal.“It is necessary to ensure safe commercial shipping and navigation here, including for oil tankers. The Kyiv regime has so far shown no inclination to guarantee such security,” Peskov said.He also called for sanctions against Russia to be lifted, arguing that this would help stabilise energy supplies and global markets.“And the second thing that needs to be done is, of course, to lift sanctions (against Russia) and these unlawful restrictions on energy supplies. Only then will the world be adequately supplied with these petroleum products, global markets will stabilise, and prices will move lower.”Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv was willing to back an energy ceasefire, but only if the US could establish that Russia was genuinely prepared to stop the war.The issue has gained importance as attacks on energy infrastructure have affected fuel supplies. Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy facilities have contributed to shortages of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel in Russia, forcing Moscow to limit some exports.Ukraine, which has also faced repeated Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure, maintains that Russian refineries are legitimate military targets.Trump on Sunday called on Zelenskyy to stop attacks on Russian diesel infrastructure, saying the strikes were causing a diesel shortage that was “hurting the world”.The Kremlin, meanwhile, has blamed the wider disruption in global energy markets mainly on the conflict in the Gulf.Trump launched military strikes on Iran in February, following which Tehran largely shut the Strait of Hormuz. The waterway had been used to transport about one-fifth of global oil and gas supplies.The Russia-Ukraine conflict has also spread to commercial shipping. Both sides have targeted cargo vessels in the Black and Azov seas, adding to pressure on global grain prices as Russia and Ukraine are among the world’s major grain exporters.
