The president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, acknowledged this Sunday that the country is experiencing “some shortage” of fuel caused by repeated Ukrainian attacks against Russian hydrocarbon infrastructure.

“As for attacks on critical infrastructure in general, and energy infrastructure in particular, of course these attacks on our infrastructure facilities create problems, that is evident,” Putin said in an interview published by the Kremlin.

“Right now we are seeing some shortages, but it is not critical,” he added.

Diplomatic efforts, with American mediation, to end this conflict, which has already lasted more than four years, are currently paralyzed.

In the same interview, Putin stated that he expected a team of American negotiators to arrive in Moscow once Washington reaches an agreement with Iran on the conflict in the Middle East.

Energy infrastructure

“We hope that, when all these events are over, after the active phase on the Iranian front has passed, we will see the arrival of those representatives of the American administration with whom we have already met repeatedly in Moscow,” said the Russian president.

Ukraine has stepped up its airstrike campaign in recent months, targeting Russia and Russian-controlled Ukrainian regions.

kyiv especially attacks energy infrastructure to cut off the supply of hydrocarbons that allows the Kremlin to finance its war effort.

Given this, the Russian president pointed out that the first task of the authorities is to increase air defense capabilities and guarantee fuel supplies, particularly in Crimea.

Annexed by Moscow in 2014, the Crimean peninsula was declared in an “emergency situation” on Friday due to the wave of attacks from kyiv, which has forced authorities to suspend the sale of fuel to individuals and impose electricity cuts.