President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin struck an agreement for a partial ceasefire in Ukraine, with Moscow agreeing to halt attacks on Ukrainian energy and infrastructure facilities for 30 days, allow safe passage of Ukrainian ships along the Black Sea and begin talks to end the 3-year-old conflict “immediately.”
The deal fell well short of the full 30-day truce proposed by Mr. Trump and accepted by Ukraine last week. Russia’s readout of the roughly 90-minute call said Mr. Putin listed many wide-ranging conditions before any permanent peace accord could be signed, including an end to military and intelligence aid to the Kyiv government by Ukraine’s U.S. and European allies.
In his first official reaction, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv that he welcomed the ceasefire covering his country’s energy infrastructure, the target of a sustained Russian missile bombardment for years. He said he would talk soon with Mr. Trump to learn exactly what the Russians had accepted and was ready to support any proposal that led to a “stable and just peace.”
“I think it will be right that we will have a conversation with President Trump and we will know in detail what the Russians offered the Americans or what the Americans offered the Russians,” said Mr. Zelenskyy.
The Ukrainian leader’s tense, televised Oval Office clash with Mr. Trump over the peace initiative led to a brief American embargo on military aid and some intelligence sharing with Kyiv.
Mr. Zelenskyy, who spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday, said he pressed the allies not to cut off vital military assistance to Ukraine’s outnumbered forces. It was a sign that Moscow and Kyiv remained far apart on a long-term peace deal.
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“We are in constant communication,” Mr. Zelenskyy told reporters. “I am confident that there will be no betrayal from our partners and that the assistance will continue.”
It’s unclear when talks on the details of a peace agreement will begin, but the White House said the negotiations will start “immediately” in the Middle East.
“The two leaders agreed that a future with an improved bilateral relationship between the United States and Russia has a huge upside. This includes enormous economic deals and geopolitical stability when peace has been achieved,” a White House readout of the call said.
Mr. Trump hailed the phone call as “very good and productive.”
“My phone conversation today with President Putin of Russia was a very good and productive one. We agreed to an immediate ceasefire on all energy and infrastructure with an understanding that we would be working toward a complete ceasefire and, ultimately, an end to this very horrible war between Russia and Ukraine,” Mr. Trump said on social media.
Mr. Trump said Mr. Putin and Mr. Zelenskyy “would like to see [the war] end. That process is now in full force and effect, and we will, hopefully, for the sake of humanity, get the job done,” he said.
The Kremlin said Mr. Putin “responded positively” to Mr. Trump’s proposal to halt the energy and infrastructure attacks and assure “safe passage” in the Black Sea.
Mr. Putin agreed to release 23 severely wounded Ukrainian soldiers being treated in Russian hospitals and continue peace talks.
“The key condition for preventing the escalation of the conflict and working toward its resolution through political and diplomatic means should be the complete cessation of foreign military aid and the provision of intelligence information to Kyiv,” the Kremlin reported that Mr. Putin told Mr. Trump.
In addition to the aid and intelligence cutoff, Mr. Putin raised several “significant issues” that would block a permanent ceasefire in Ukraine, according to the Kremlin, including Kyiv’s “forced mobilization” of Ukrainian citizens to military service and rearmament of the military.
Direct talks
The phone call between Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin was their second direct communication since the Biden administration cut off virtually all contact with the Kremlin in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russian forces occupy roughly one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory in the south and east, and Mr. Putin has shown no signs of being ready to cede land.
The two leaders also agreed that Iran should never be in a position to destroy Israel, according to the U.S. account of the call.
Although the White House didn’t give details of the conditions for a permanent ceasefire, Mr. Trump said discussions would involve “dividing up certain assets,” including land and power plants. Mr. Zelenskyy said his government first proposed the temporary block on attacking power plants and other energy infrastructure.
“We will be talking about power plants,” Mr. Trump told reporters Sunday on Air Force One. “I think a lot of it has already been discussed at length by both sides, Ukraine and Russia.”
Mr. Trump’s comments indicate that the Zaporizhzhia power plant in Ukraine, Europe’s largest nuclear facility, and land swaps were on the table for negotiations. Ukraine controls part of the Russian region of Kursk, and Russia controls several regions of Ukraine.
The president told reporters Monday that Ukraine’s soldiers in Kursk were “in deep trouble” and that his temporary suspension of military and intelligence assistance with Kyiv was an effort to get Ukraine “to do the right thing.”
Last week, Mr. Putin expressed concern about a ceasefire. He said he would be open to the idea if it led to long-term peace, but he hinted that barring Ukraine from receiving U.S. military aid and mobilizing new forces must be part of any peace agreement.
He also has called for Ukraine to surrender four southeastern regions occupied by Russian troops and a guarantee that Ukraine is barred from joining NATO.
Moscow has also rejected a proposal by European nations to deploy foreign peacekeepers to Ukraine.
Mr. Zelenskyy previously said he would be willing to resign in exchange for peace or NATO membership, which he views as critical for Ukrainian security.
• David R. Sands contributed to this article, which is based in part on wire service reports.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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