Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to turn down a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in the war in Ukraine following a call Tuesday with U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Kremlin, though, said it has agreed to stop targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for 30 days.
Russia’s statement appeared to echo a readout of the call shared by the White House that stated the two “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.”
“These negotiations will begin immediately in the Middle East,” the White House added.
The targeted ceasefire referenced in the readout falls short of the truce proposal pushed by the U.S. last week, which Kyiv has already agreed to.
Putin previously said he backed the proposal in principle but suggested he expected more concessions from Kyiv.
Trump, though, had previously appeared optimistic that he would get Putin to go along with the U.S. plan.
“I think he’s going to agree, I really do,” Trump told “Full Measure” in an interview broadcast Sunday. “I think I know him pretty well, and I think he’s going to agree.”
It’s unclear how Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will respond to the limited ceasefire touted by the U.S. and Russia on Tuesday as the White House did not spell out the role Kyiv would play in the negotiations.
While the White House said both Trump and Putin “agreed this conflict needs to end with a lasting peace,” Russia made clear that it wants the U.S. to stop sending aid to Ukraine and sharing intelligence with Kyiv as a prerequisite for ending the war. Trump temporarily cut support for Ukraine following his tense meeting with Zelenskyy in the Oval Office but restored it after Ukraine backed his original ceasefire proposal.
“It was emphasized that the key condition for preventing the escalation of the conflict and working towards its resolution by political and diplomatic means should be a complete cessation of foreign military assistance and the provision of intelligence information to Kyiv,” the Kremlin said, according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, Trump seems keen on mending the U.S.-Russia bilateral relationship.
“The blood and treasure that both Ukraine and Russia have been spending in this war would be better spent on the needs of their people,” the White House readout said.
The statement appears to gloss over the fact that the three-year conflict was prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Trump has previously blamed Kyiv for the war, largely echoing the Kremlin’s talking points.
