President Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday and the two leaders agreed to an “energy and infrastructure ceasefire” in Ukraine as a first step toward a lasting peace, the White House said in a readout of the call.
“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 readout said, adding that the negotiations “will begin immediately in the Middle East.”
According to RT, the Kremlin has confirmed that Putin agreed with a proposal from Trump for Russia and Ukraine to halt attacks on energy infrastructure for 30 days and that he instructed his military accordingly.
The White House said that Trump and Putin also agreed “that a future with an improved bilateral relationship between the United States and Russia has huge upside. This includes enormous economic deals and geopolitical stability when peace has been achieved.”
So far, there’s been no immediate response from Ukraine about the potential partial ceasefire, which would require Ukraine to stop using drones to target infrastructure inside Russia.
The US and Ukraine initially proposed a 30-day ceasefire that would apply to all fighting, but Putin responded with several conditions, including a guarantee that the US wouldn’t provide military aid to Ukraine during the truce.
The Kremlin said that Putin told Trump during the call on Tuesday that the “key condition” needed to bring an end to the war and prevent escalation was the “complete cessation” of foreign military aid and intelligence support for Ukraine. Ukrainian neutrality was Russia’s main demand during negotiations before the invasion and in short-lived talks at the beginning of the invasion, which were discouraged by the US.
