Russia and Ukraine are discussing stopping strikes on energy infrastructure sites in each other's countries, according to a report that could signal a significant de-escalation in hostilities.
The Financial Times reported that Kyiv is looking to restart negotiations mediated by Qatar that came close to agreeing an end to the attacks in August before Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk region.
Over the course of the war, Ukraine has struggled with rolling blackouts caused by Russian drone and missile strikes on energy infrastructure. During the summer, attacks took out half the country's power generation capacity.
Between March and August, Russia destroyed all of the thermal power plants and almost all of the hydroelectric capacity in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, according to a report in the Kyiv Independent.
Moscow has continued these strikes, which will further pressure Ukraine ahead of the freezing winter months.
Kyiv in turn has stepped up drone strikes on oil-processing facilities across a wide swathe of Russian territory. Often without claiming direct responsibility, the Ukrainian strikes have hampered Russia's military machine.
Newsweek has contacted the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministries for comment.
The interim head of Ukraine's state grid operator, Ukrenergo, Oleksiy Brekht, said Ukraine could face its toughest winter since the start of the war and that if Russia continues its attacks on energy infrastructure, the population may face daily power outages of up to eight hours.
"The winter will be the hardest of the previous three years," Brekht told Ukrainian outlet Suspilne in an interview published Tuesday.
Serhiy Kovalenko, the CEO of energy supplier Yasno, said in June that Ukrainians may have electricity in the cold months for as few as six hours a day, depending on how much of the grid can be repaired.
But an unnamed diplomat told the FT there were "very early talks" about both sides resuming negotiations that included a focus on energy facilities.
Citing an unnamed Ukrainian official, the newspaper said both sides had already cut down the number of attacks on each other's energy infrastructure recently following an understanding reached by their intelligence agencies.
However, the paper reported that a former Kremlin official said that Putin would be unlikely to agree to a deal until Ukrainian troops are pushed out of the Kursk region. Meanwhile, a Ukrainian official said that Kyiv still plans to continue hitting targets including oil refineries to push Moscow to the negotiating table.
"Halting these attacks is essential to Ukraine's survival and resilience in the face of aggression," Svitlana Romanko, founder and executive director of the Ukrainian organization Razom We Stand, told Newsweek.
"With each pause, we can focus on rebuilding an energy system that not only serves our people but also builds a foundation for a secure, decentralized renewable energy future," Romanko said.
"Russia's relentless attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure have been devastating, disrupting power for millions of civilians, threatening the operation of hospitals, schools, and critical services, and leaving communities in the cold."
Zelensky has previously said that any deal to protect energy facilities could precede broader peace talks.
The FT said that other attempts to reach a deal had failed, including one struck last autumn that was meant to pave the way toward talks. But Kyiv resumed drone attacks on Russian oil facilities in February and March this year to pressure Moscow following its failed counteroffensive the previous summer.
Update 10/30/24, 5:30 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from Svitlana Romanko.
About the writer
Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. His focus is Russia and Ukraine, in particular ... Read more