Russia denies information about indirect talks with Ukraine

Russia on Sunday denied a report that Ukraine’s offensive in the Kursk region had derailed indirect talks with Kiev on halting attacks on energy and energy targets, saying there had been no talks with Kiev on civilian infrastructure.

The Washington Post reported on Saturday that Ukraine and Russia were to send delegations to Qatar this month to negotiate a landmark deal that would end strikes on energy and electricity infrastructure on both warring sides.

The Post he said the deal would amount to a partial ceasefire, but that talks were derailed by Ukraine’s incursion into Russian-sovereign territory.

“No one interrupted anything because there was nothing to interrupt,” Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said of the Post’s report.

“There have been no direct or indirect negotiations between Russia and the Kiev regime on the security of urban critical infrastructure facilities.” Ukraine’s government did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The Post reported that Ukraine’s presidential office said the Doha summit was postponed due to the situation in the Middle East and would be held via video conference on August 22.

Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of hitting civilian infrastructure in the war. Both deny doing so.

Zakharova then cited President Vladimir Putin, who on August 12 questioned what talks could be held with Ukraine after its ground attack on Russia and what she said were attacks on Russian civilian infrastructure.

“There is nothing to discuss with people who unleash such things,” Zakharova said.

Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022 in what it calls a “special military operation” and now controls about 18 percent of the country. Ukraine’s cross-border strike in the Kursk region on August 6 was the first military incursion into Russian territory since World War II.