Putin, Trump Agree Halt To Ukraine Energy Attacks But No Ceasefire

Vladimir Putin agreed to halt attacks on Ukrainian energy targets on Tuesday in a call with Donald Trump, but he vowed to reject a full ceasefire and demanded that all military aid for Kyiv be stopped.

The US and Russian leaders exchanged more than an hour and a half of conversation in hopes of resolving Moscow’s pro-Western neighbor’s three-year-old, full-scale invasion.

However, the highly anticipated call failed to deliver the breakthrough that Trump had hoped for because Ukraine had already agreed to a 30-day ceasefire with the Russian president.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Kyiv, stated in Kyiv that he supported the energy truce but that Putin’s refusal to negotiate a wider peace showed that he was not “ready” and continues to “weaken” Ukraine.

Trump insisted on his Truth Social network that they understood “we will be working quickly to have a Complete Ceasefire and, ultimately, an END to this very horrible War.”

However, the Kremlin made it abundantly clear that any genuine truce would be in vain and dependent on Russian demands that Ukraine and its Western allies would find difficult to accept.

Trump also demands the US judge be removed from international flights.

According to a Kremlin statement, Putin had already given his military the directive to halt strikes against Ukraine’s energy targets for 30 days. The leaders “concluded that the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire,” according to the White House in a separate statement.

Throughout the winter, Russia has carried out a number of devastating attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Multiple Russian oil installations have been bombed by Ukraine using drones.

– Kyiv sirens

In a statement from the White House, which noted a “huge upside” for Russia and the United States, Trump and Putin also agreed that further peace negotiations would “begin immediately.”

However, according to the Kremlin, the “key condition” for peace would be the “complete cessation” of Western military and intelligence support for Ukraine’s troubled military.

A few hours after the call, air raid sirens rang out and air raid sirens sounded over the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, according to AFP journalists, in a show of resolve by Russia to continue its larger offensive.

Trump has stated that he intends to fulfill his election pledge to end fighting in Ukraine, and that he blames Joe Biden’s administration for promoting the conflict.

In February, he shocked the world by making an unexpected call with Putin and launching discussions with Russia to end the conflict, igniting fears among allies that he was turning too far in the direction of Moscow.

Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky engaged in a televised shouting match as he upended years of US policy supporting Ukraine.

However, Putin’s willingness to a ceasefire has been questioned by Western allies.

Following the Kremlin’s announcement, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron pledged to continue providing military aid to Ukraine.

Scholz remarked, “Ukraine can count on us.”

– Concerned allies

Trump’s attempt to force through a deal that punishes Ukraine without demanding concessions from Russia has also raised concerns among the Europeans.

Trump stated over the weekend that he was interested in “diving up some of Ukraine’s assets,” including land and power plants.

Ukraine had already agreed to Washington’s request for a full 30-day ceasefire when under US pressure. Additionally, it consents to a US plan to grant it preferential access to Ukraine’s mineral resources.

However, Putin has stated on numerous occasions that additional issues needed to be discussed, most notably those that centered on its maximalist demands that the West stop supporting Ukraine.

In recent months, Russia has made a grinding advance in southern and eastern Ukraine.

Parts of Kyiv’s Kursk region, which Moscow seized last year and was hoping to use as a bargaining chip, have also been seized back by Moscow.

Russia claimed on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces had earlier launched a ground invasion of the Belgorod region but were later pushed back, implying that the Russian-led talks were being undermined.

Source: Channels TV