Allies sent Ukraine 'signals' on reducing strikes on Russian oil, president Zelenskiy says

Some of Ukraine's allies have sent Kyiv "signals" about the possibility of scaling back its long-range strikes on Russia's oil sector as global energy prices have surged, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday.

Speaking to reporters in a WhatsApp chat, Zelenskiy said that Ukraine is ready to reciprocate if Russia stops attacking the Ukrainian energy system, and that Kyiv is open to an Easter ceasefire.

"Recently, following such a severe global energy crisis, we have indeed received signals from some of our partners about how to reduce our responses in the oil sector and the energy sector of the Russian Federation," Zelenskiy said in a WhatsApp briefing with journalists.

A source familiar with the situation said U.S. officials had conveyed this message to their Ukrainian counterparts as part of their regular conversations, adding that the initial "signals" appeared to have come from Moscow.

The U.S. State Department and the Russian embassy in Washington didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has squeezed international supplies of oil, gas and refined products, sending prices soaring in the worst disruption to energy supplies in history. Russian strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure have already left it scrambling for supplies.

Fresh from a four-day visit to the Middle East, Zelenskiy said that he had reached agreement with some countries in the region to provide energy support to Ukraine.

Zelenskiy said at the weekend during his Middle East tour that he had reached a deal on diesel deliveries for a year to Ukraine, without providing further details. Diesel is vital for the functioning of the Ukrainian armed forces and the country's agricultural sector, the bedrock of the economy.

During his visit, Ukraine signed framework cooperation deals with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and has said another is in the works with the United Arab Emirates.

In his talks with Middle Eastern leaders, Zelenskiy raised the topic of air-defence missile supplies, he said, without indicating if any agreements were reached.

Because of the Iran war, Ukraine's international partners were "primarily" sending their anti-ballistic missile systems to the Middle East at the moment, and Ukraine was sometimes being forgotten, he said.

-Yuliia Dysa and Daniel Flynn/Reuters