The Kremlin said, this Wednesday, April 16, not to be “ready” to say when the fragile moratorium would expire concerning the strikes on energy infrastructure, concluded with kyiv under pressure from Washington, shortly before its expected end date.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on March 18 that he had ordered his army after an appeal with his American counterpart Donald Trump, to stop strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure for 30 days. A few days later, the United States had announced that they had reached an agreement on the subject with Russia, on the one hand, and Ukraine, on the other.
Info to remember
⇒ The Kremlin refuses to say when the moratorium on the energy strikes must end
⇒ Ore: negotiations between kyiv and Washington advance “fairly quickly”
⇒ Marco Rubio will go to Paris for discussions on Ukraine
The Kremlin refuses to say when the moratorium on the energy strikes must end
A certain vagueness persists on the real date of the start of the moratorium on the energy strikes, that of its end, as well as its conditions. And kyiv as Moscow accuses almost daily to violate him.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov, interviewed on Wednesday at the precise moment to which the moratorium will expire, elected the question. “We will keep you informed, but I am not ready to give you the decision taken,” he said during his daily briefing, in which AFP participated.
Read also: Dmytro Kouleba, former Ukrainian minister: “If things continue, war in Europe will happen”
Russia claims that the moratorium entered into force on March 18 for 30 days. Ukraine considers that it started on March 25, on the day of the announcement of the agreement by the White House, the spokesman for Ukrainian diplomacy, Guéorguiï Tykhy said on Wednesday. But for kyiv too, his end date is not clear. Questioned by journalists during a briefing, Guéorguiï Tykhy explained that he could not give “specific date” after which the agreement will be deciduous. He assured that Ukraine bends there for the time being, while reproaching Russia for having already violated it “more than 30 times”.
Minerals: kyiv welcomes “significant progress” in negotiations with Washington
The Ukrainian Minister of Economy, Ioulia Svyrydenko, welcomed “significant progress” on Wednesday in negotiations with the United States with a view to an agreement on the exploitation of the country’s resources in strategic ores. “Our technical teams have worked together in a very substantial way on the agreement,” said Ioulia Svyrydenko on social networks.
Read also: Russian negotiations – United States: mafia art of the deal in Witkoff sauce
US President Donald Trump claims this agreement as a compensation for the aid granted to Ukraine by his predecessor Joe Biden from the start, three years ago, of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine received a new version of this document at the end of March from the United States, which was described by several media and Ukrainian deputies as very disadvantage for kyiv.
Five Ukrainian teenagers and four adults accused of preparing Moscow attacks
Ukrainian Security Services (SBU) announced on Wednesday that they have arrested nine Ukrainians, including five teenagers, accused of preparing “terrorist attacks” and “sabotage” operations on the order of Russia.
“The SBU has simultaneously arrested nine FSB (Russian security services, ex-KGB, editor’s note) agents, which prepared terrorist attacks” in the east and the center of the country after being recruited on Telegram channels, the SBU said in a statement. Five adolescents “aged 14 to 15” are among the suspects, he added, adding also having seized “more than 30 kilograms of explosives”. These people acted under the control of two FSB collaborators and had the task of making improvised explosive devices, placing them on designated sites, activating them remotely and filming explosions using hidden video cameras, said SBU.
Marco Rubio will go to Paris for discussions on Ukraine
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will go to Paris on Wednesday for discussions on the conflict in Ukraine, we learned from the State Department. Marco Rubio will be accompanied by the special emissary for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, for “discussions with their European counterparts in order to advance the goal of President Trump to end the war between Ukraine and Russia and stop the killing”, according to a statement.
Read also: Ukraine: What Donald Trump’s reaction says after Russian strike in Soumy
Negotiations on the initiative of Donald Trump for a general cease-fire between kyiv and Moscow have not yet succeeded, the Russian attack on Sunday against Soumy, in northeast of Ukraine, having caused the death of at least 35 civilians, coming to testify to the continuation of this murderous conflict.
International call for the return to Ukraine of “stolen children” by Russia
Some 300 personalities in Europe and Canada launched a call on Wednesday for the return of Ukrainian children forcibly transferred to Russia, believing that this question was “non -negotiable” in any possible discussion to end the war.
On social networks, the Estonian president Alar Karis, European commissioners like the Finnish Henna Virkkunen, the Lithuanian Andrius Kubilius, French parliamentarians like Yaël Braun-Pivet or British like David Burton-Sampson … pose with a blue and yellow t-shirt in the colors of Ukraine demanding the “return” in Ukraine.
According to the “Bring Kids Back” initiative (“Bring back the children”), launched by Ukraine in 2023, and to which around forty kyiv supported countries, more than 19,500 children have been “removed” by Moscow since the start of the large -scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Only a little more than 1,200 were recovered.
