Trump and Putin agree to a 30-day ‘energy’ ceasefire in Ukraine
The US president, Donald Trump, and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, have agreed to an immediate 30-day pause in attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, a gesture the White House called a ‘move towards peace.’ However, the road to a broader truce still faces significant obstacles.
The telephone conversation between the two leaders, which lasted over an hour, made it clear that fundamental differences persist over the conditions for achieving lasting peace in Ukraine.
While Washington proposed a longer 30-day pause in the fighting and the possibility of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, Moscow did not give its approval to these measures. According to the Kremlin, Putin reiterated his demand for an end to military and foreign intelligence assistance to Ukraine, a condition that Kiev considers unacceptable.
Furthermore, Russia stands firm on its demands for a possible peace agreement: the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the four regions annexed by Moscow — despite not having full control over them — Ukraine's renunciation of any prospect of joining NATO and a drastic reduction of its army. These conditions, which have been strongly rejected by the Ukrainian government, suggest that the road to peace is still fragile and full of disagreements.
The partial agreement on the protection of energy infrastructure represents a small glimmer of hope in the midst of the prolonged conflict, but the divergent positions of the two leaders reflect that a complete and lasting end to the fighting still seems distant.
Likewise, shortly after the call between Trump and Putin ended, air raid sirens sounded in Kiev, followed by explosions in the capital, forcing thousands of people to seek shelter.
Zelensky calls for transparency in negotiations
After the conversation between Trump and Putin, Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky reiterated to journalists that Ukraine is open to any proposal that leads to a sustainable and just peace, but emphasised the need for total transparency in the negotiations. ‘We need to understand what the conversation is about, what the details are,’ Zelensky explained, stressing that any attempt to negotiate without Ukraine ‘will not be productive’.
With regard to the Kremlin's demands, the Ukrainian leader rejected Putin's demand to stop military and intelligence aid to Kiev, warning that such a move would weaken Ukraine.
For his part, President Trump has welcomed the agreement with Putin, seeing it as a key step towards his goal of ending the war in Ukraine, one of his campaign promises.
‘We have just agreed an immediate ceasefire on all energy and infrastructure, with the understanding that we will work quickly to achieve a complete ceasefire and, ultimately, an end to this very horrible war between Russia and Ukraine,’ the US leader posted on his social networks.
In addition to the pause in the attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, both leaders also agreed to ‘immediately’ begin negotiations in the Middle East with the aim of reaching a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea and achieving a lasting peace.
On the other hand, Putin informed Trump that Russia and Ukraine are willing to exchange 175 prisoners of war per side this Wednesday. In addition, Russia will hand over 23 seriously wounded soldiers to Ukraine, according to the Kremlin.
The conversation between Putin and Trump took place a week after the Ukrainian authorities accepted the proposal for a 30-day ceasefire during negotiations in Saudi Arabia, led by the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. Subsequently, the White House special envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with Putin in Moscow to discuss the initiative, which is still awaiting approval from the Russian side.
However, Zelenskyy remains sceptical about Putin's willingness to achieve peace, given that Russian forces continue to bomb Ukraine.