Russia, Ukraine blame each other for ceasefire breaches at energy sites

Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of breaking the terms of a tentative US-brokered deal to pause strikes on energy infrastructure, underscoring the challenges to negotiating a broader peace in the war in Ukraine.

Russia's defence ministry alleged that Ukrainian drone attacks hit an electric facility in the Bryansk region early Wednesday and a power grid facility in the Kursk region on Tuesday, leading to a power cut affecting thousands of people. 

It said the Ukrainian government "is doing everything to derail the Russian-US agreements on the gradual settlement" of the war.

Ukraine's General Staff denied the allegations, saying in a statement on Wednesday that Russia's claims were part of a broader disinformation campaign aimed at justifying continued hostilities.

The accusations came hours after Washington announced a tentative agreement with Ukraine and Russia to pause attacks on energy sites and ensure safe shipping in the Black Sea, following three days of separate talks in Saudi Arabia aimed at implementing a limited, 30-day ceasefire that Moscow and Kyiv agreed to in principle last week.

Conflicting statements emerge  However, conflicting statements emerged immediately after the talks on Tuesday. Both sides differed on the start time of halting strikes on energy sites and accused the other of violating the ceasefire.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that Ukraine had agreed with US negotiators in Riyadh "that a ceasefire for energy infrastructure can start today", and expressed his country's willingness to comply with the agreement while warning Russia would face "strong retaliation" if it attacked Ukrainian energy facilities.

The Kremlin declared that Russian hasn't attacked any Ukrainian energy facilities since March 18 when Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to halt the attacks for 30 days in a phone call with US President Donald Trump.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that Moscow will keep respecting the halt on strikes despite Ukrainian violations, saying that it marked a "good step forward thanks to the constructive relations with the American side".

Ukrainian officials have contested the Kremlin claims.

"They've been hitting our energy sites with bombs, attack drones, and FPV drones," Zelenskyy's communications advisor Dmytro Lytvyn said on X.

"We're not going into all the details, but there have already been eight confirmed hits on energy facilities. Every night our air defense forces shoot down nearly a hundred attack drones -- and many of those drones were likely targeting other energy facilities.

Russia links Black Sea deal to sanctions relief  On Tuesday, the White House also announced that the sides had agreed to ensure safe navigation, eliminate the use of force, and prevent the use of commercial vessels for military purposes in the Black Sea".

Details of the prospective deal were not released, but it appeared to mark another attempt to ensure safe Black Sea shipping after a 2022 agreement that was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey but halted by Russia the next year.

The Kremlin warned on Tuesday that a potential Black Sea deal could only be implemented after sanctions against the Russian Agricultural Bank and other financial organisations involved in food and fertilizer trade are lifted and their access to the SWIFT system of international payments is ensured.

Speaking during a visit to Paris on Wednesday, Zelenskyy accused Moscow of attempting to add extra conditions to what should be an "unconditional agreement".

We expect the American side to ensure an unconditional ceasefire at sea. Russia wants this war to continue. Russia is prolonging it. Pressure on Russia is needed for the war to genuinely end," Zelenskyy said.

He also argued that it's too early for the United States to ease sanctions against Russia, stating that Ukraine continues discussions with international partners, including the US, Asian countries and the European Union, to prepare new sanctions packages.

The White House said in Tuesday's statement that the US "will help restore Russia's access to the world market for agricultural and fertiliser exports, lower maritime insurance costs, and enhance access to ports and payment systems for such transactions".

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said "we're going to evaluate" the Russian conditions, noting that some of them "include sanctions that are not ours, they belong to the European Union".

Rubio also said after analysing Moscow's demands, "we'll present that to the president, who will make a decision" about the next step.

"I think everyone should be happy that the United States is engaged in a process of ending a war and bringing about peace. It's not going to be easy. It won't be simple. It'll take some time. But at least we're on that road and we're talking about these things, and we're going to test it and see what's possible," Rubio said.

Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said contacts between Russia and the US "continue quite intensively", and that authorities are "satisfied with how pragmatic, constructive and productive our dialogue is".

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomes the Black Sea commitments, which "will be a crucial contribution to global food security and supply chains", UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Dujarric wouldn't say whether the UN will participate in monitoring the Black Sea agreement.