March 23, 2025 (EIRNS)—Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned March 22 that Russia reserves the right to take a symmetrical response to Ukraine’s continued attacks on energy facilities. “We issue a clear warning: if the Kiev regime persists in its destructive course of action, the Russian side reserves the right to respond, including in a symmetrical manner,” she said, reported TASS.
She added that Kiev’s attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure highlight its unwillingness to pursue peace: “It is evident that, through such reckless actions, Kiev once again shows its complete lack of negotiability and its absence of any aspiration for peace. Just as in 2022, provocations are once again being employed to derail the negotiation process.”
An agreement for a mutual pause in attacks on energy facilities was offered by Putin to Trump following the latter’s proposal for a general ceasefire.
But just days after Presidents Trump and Putin spoke and agreed to a ceasefire on attacks on energy infrastructure—an agreement that was supported by Zelenskyy, Ukrainian army forces destroyed the gas metering station of the Druzhba pipeline in the Kursk region. Ukraine (naturally) accused Russia of blowing up its own equipment. Russia has followed with its own strikes.
