President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia agreed on Tuesday during a phone call with President Trump to temporarily halt strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, according to the Kremlin.
That fell short of the unconditional 30-day cease-fire that Ukraine had already agreed to, at the urging of the Trump administration. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine, which was not included in the call.
Mr. Putin made “a number of significant points” about the 30-day cease-fire proposal in the call, according to Tass. That included reiterating to Mr. Trump that a complete cessation of military aid to Kyiv is the key condition for solving the conflict, Tass added.
The cease-fire proposal on the table
A week ago, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Michael Waltz, the U.S. national security adviser, sat down for talks in Saudi Arabia with a delegation led by Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
After more than eight hours of talks, the United States and Ukraine issued a joint statement saying that Kyiv would support the Trump administration’s proposal for a 30-day cease-fire with Russia, subject to Russia’s approval. The United States said it would immediately resume providing military aid and intelligence to Ukraine, which the Trump administration had suspended after an explosive U.S.-Ukraine meeting at the White House.
The United States and Ukraine also agreed to conclude “as soon as possible” a deal to develop Ukraine’s critical mineral resources.
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“The leaders agreed that the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire, as well as technical negotiations on implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace,” the White House wrote in its description of the call. It said the technical negotiations would begin “immediately” in the Middle East.
The Kremlin’s description of the call said Trump “put forward a proposal for the parties to the conflict to mutually refrain from attacks on energy infrastructure facilities for 30 days.”
Putin “responded positively to this initiative and immediately gave the Russian military the corresponding order,” Moscow’s readout said.
Ukraine did not immediately respond to the new agreement. Kyiv has accused Russia of using delaying tactics to prolong the war.
As part of its demands for a broader ceasefire, Putin stressed the need for a halt of foreign military aid to Ukraine, the Kremlin said, though the White House made no mention of that in its statement. And neither the White House nor the Kremlin brought up land concessions in their official descriptions of Tuesday’s conversation. Ahead of the call, Trump said US negotiators had discussed “dividing up certain assets.”
The call was a key test of whether Trump, who’s largely echoed Putin’s view of the war since their call last month, can achieve his campaign trail promise of bringing the war to an end – and whether his friendliness toward Russia has paid off.
“The two leaders agreed that a future with an improved bilateral relationship between the United States and Russia has huge upside,” the White House said in its statement. “This includes enormous economic deals and geopolitical stability when peace has been achieved.”
Putin told Trump that a prisoner exchange would occur between Russia and Ukraine on Wednesday, according to the Kremlin.
The White House also said the men discussed the Middle East “as a region of potential cooperation to prevent future conflicts” as Russia offers to mediate a nuclear deal with Iran.
Trump supported an idea proposed by Putin to organize US-Russia hockey matches in their respective countries, the Kremlin said.
Ahead of the call, sources familiar with the conversation said a key priority would be securing an agreement on concessions Russia is willing to make – including whether it’s willing to withdraw forces from territory it seized in the past three years since invading Ukraine.
Trump himself suggested as much while speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, saying that US negotiators have discussed “dividing up certain assets.”
