MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged "a certain shortage" of fuel in a Kremlin interview Sunday, following repeated Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure.
"As for strikes against critical infrastructure in general, and energy infrastructure in particular, of course these attacks on our infrastructure facilities create problems, that's obvious," Putin said. "Right now we're observing a certain shortage, but it's not critical."
He stated the main task was to increase anti-aircraft defense capacity and ensure fuel supplies, particularly to annexed Crimea. Ukrainian authorities call the attacks fair retribution for Russia's near-daily barrages on Ukrainian civilians and energy infrastructure since the February 2022 offensive.
Earlier, Russian-annexed Crimea declared an "emergency situation" over fuel shortages and power cuts triggered by Ukrainian attacks on logistics chains and oil facilities.
A Ukrainian drone strike also killed one person in Russia's Krasnodar region and sparked a fire at a refinery, according to regional governor Veniamin Kondratyev. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the hit part of operations that weaken Russia's ability to wage war.
On the possibility of peace talks, Putin said he expects US negotiators to come to Moscow once Washington is no longer preoccupied with Iran and the Middle East conflict. "We are ready to continue negotiations and discuss all the details," he added.
Putin was responding to questions about Russian-US relations after the G7 summit, when US President Donald Trump said Russia should "make a deal with Ukraine."