Offensive blasts secret truce meetings –

Ukraine’s incursion “derails efforts for partial ceasefire with Russia.” The Washington Post reports that Ukraine’s incursion into Russia has derailed plans to hold indirect talks in Qatar on suspending attacks on energy infrastructure. “Ukraine and Russia,” the newspaper said, citing diplomats and officials familiar with the discussions, “sent delegations to Doha this month to negotiate a historic deal aimed at ending attacks on both sides’ energy facilities and electricity infrastructure. The deal would have been the equivalent of a partial ceasefire and would have given both countries a break.”

“But the indirect talks, with Qataris acting as mediators who would have met separately with the Ukrainian and Russian delegations, were derailed by Ukraine’s surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region last week,” the officials were quoted as saying. Russia “didn’t break off the talks, it said it was giving us time,” a diplomat quoted by the paper said. Ukraine had still wanted to send its delegation to Doha, he added, but Qatar refused because it did not see the benefit of a unilateral meeting.