Ukraine President Zelensky says Ukraine is prepared to take de-escalation measures, but partners must ensure Russia is sincere in implementing measures affecting Ukraine's critical infrastructure and that those measures are long-term and reliable

Conditional de-escalation offers of this kind have been a recurring feature of the conflict's negotiating rhythm: one side signals readiness while shifting the burden of verification onto the other party and its guarantors, and prior limited arrangements around energy and port infrastructure have tended to be agreed, partially observed, and then unravel amid mutual accusations. The operative distinction here is between a genuine ceasefire track and a tactical pause; past episodes of infrastructure-focused restraint have had limited durability precisely because verification mechanisms were weak and both sides retained incentives to test them. The market-relevant channel runs through European energy: attacks and truces touching power and gas infrastructure have historically driven prompt gas and power prices and, secondarily, crude via Black Sea logistics and refinery strikes, with risk premia building and fading in step with headline credibility rather than the announcements themselves. Zelensky's framing, conditioning everything on partner-enforced Russian sincerity, signals that Kyiv is not committing unilaterally, which in past sequences has meant the offer functions more as diplomatic positioning than as an actionable de-escalation. What matters next is the Russian response, any US or European mediation follow-through, and whether strike activity on energy assets actually declines, which has been the only reliable tell in comparable episodes.