US Signals Openness To Limited Russia-Ukraine Ceasefire On Energy, Grain

(MENAFN- IANS) United Nations, Sep 24 (IANS) The United States is willing to explore a limited Russia–Ukraine ceasefire covering energy and grain, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, while cautioning that both sides use attacks on energy targets as part of their war effort.

“I think both sides have expressed an interest in some limited ceasefire that involved grain and energy,” Rubio told reporters during the United Nations General Assembly. He said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had raised the idea publicly and in talks with US officials.

Rubio did not announce a proposal or say that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to negotiate one. He said the subject had featured in US conversations with both sides, including a meeting involving Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Moscow and talks with Zelensky.

Washington would be willing to help if it could play a constructive role, he said. A limited arrangement would not end the war, but might ease some of the pressure it has placed on other countries and provide a starting point for wider talks.

Rubio said the difficulty lay in what energy targets mean to each side. Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries and oil and gas facilities hit a source of revenue. Russian attacks on Ukraine's electrical grid threaten power supplies as winter approaches.

“So when you talk about energy, it means two things to different people,” he said.

Both countries see those targets as serving military aims, Rubio said. That makes a narrow agreement hard to reach even if each side sees a possible benefit. He said strikes affecting oil and gas had a global impact, while attacks on Ukraine's grid had immediate consequences for people living there.

Rubio did not say whether Washington had asked either side to halt specific strikes. Asked whether the United States had pressed Russia as well as Ukraine, he replied:“How do you know we haven't asked Russia to stop?”

He said Ukraine would regard protecting its electricity supply as central to its interests. Russia, meanwhile, was facing strikes deep inside its territory against key industries. Those competing concerns were a reason to pursue talks, he said, even though they made a deal difficult.

Rubio described recent US contacts as a continuation of earlier discussions. He declined to give a detailed account and warned against treating the conversations as a breakthrough.“I think it was significant that at least there was a conversation,” he said.

He also said no new summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin had been discussed. Washington had invited Putin to the G20, Rubio said, and the gathering could offer a chance for the two presidents to speak if Putin attended. He did not link that possibility to a ceasefire agreement.

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