Russia Agrees To 30-Day Suspension Of Energy Infrastructure Attacks

Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to impose a 30-day suspension on attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in exchange for an identical halt of attacks on Russian infrastructure from the Ukrainian side.

The commitment was made during Putin’s two-and-a-half-hour phone call with President Trump during which the two discussed the next steps in the Ukraine war.

A full 30-day ceasefire, as originally proposed by the U.S. side, was rejected by Russia, which sees it as a means of giving the Ukrainian army a break to rearm.

One of Russia’s conditions for a peace agreement is the suspension of all U.S. military aid to the Kyiv government.

Following the lengthy call, the White House said the two sides will continue their negotiations with a ceasefire in the Black Sea, progressing to a permanent peace agreement, Reuters reported.

Trump’s special envoy on the Ukraine, Steven Witkoff, told Fox News that the next U.S.-Russian talks will take place in person, in Saudi Arabia, on Sunday, March 23, where the parties would discuss the details of the ceasefire and the future peace deal.

“Up until recently, we really didn’t have consensus around these two aspects – the energy and infrastructure ceasefire and the Black Sea moratorium on firing – and today we got to that place, and I think it’s a relatively short distance to a full ceasefire from there,” Witkoff told Fox News.

Crude oil prices dipped on the news of the partial ceasefire, as they do on any positive news about progress towards peace in the Ukraine, since peace would likely mean the lifting of U.S. sanctions in Russian energy, facilitating the access of Russian oil to international markets.

“The agreement marks a positive step towards an eventual resolution, with the halt of attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities reducing further oil supply disruption risks and keeping oil prices under some pressure,” IG analyst Yeap Jun Rong told Reuters.

Source: Oilprice.com