Vladimir Putin has agreed to a limited ceasefire that would stop Russia targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure after a high-stakes phone call with Donald Trump.
But the Russian leader declined to commit to a 30-day full ceasefire, a plan pitched by Trump that Ukraine agreed to last week, denting the US president’s hope of bringing a quick end to hostilities. The Kremlin said Putin demanded that the west halt all military aid to Kyiv before it could implement such a plan.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking after the call, said Ukraine was favourable to the idea of both sides halting attacks on each other’s infrastructure but he was waiting for “details” of what had been agreed first.
Trump put a positive spin on the discussion, writing on his Truth Social platform shortly after the call ended that he had had a “very good and productive” conversation with Putin.
“We agreed to an immediate Ceasefire on all Energy and Infrastructure, with an understanding that we will be working quickly to have a Complete Ceasefire and, ultimately, an END to this very horrible War between Russia and Ukraine,” he added.
A Kremlin statement said Putin had issued an order to the Russian military to suspend strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Within hours of the call ending, however, air raid alerts sounded in Kyiv, followed quickly by fresh explosions as Ukrainian air defence targeted Russian drones around the capital.
A few hours later, Zelenskyy said in a statement on Telegram that Russia had launched more than 40 drones against civilian infrastructure, including a hit on a hospital in the city of Sumy.
“In many regions we can exactly hear what it is that Russia wants,” wrote Zelenskyy.
In a briefing with journalists, Zelenskyy said he was waiting for further information from Washington.
“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,” he said.
“After we get details from the American president, from the American side, we will give our answer, prepare it, and our team will be ready for technical discussions.”
If upheld by both sides, a halt to attacks on energy infrastructure would mark the first partial ceasefire in more than three years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia has been relentlessly targeting Ukraine’s infrastructure for the past three years, while in recent months Ukraine has been increasingly able to hit targets deep inside Russia with long-range drones.
In his first public appearance since the call, Trump told Fox News interviewer Laura Ingraham: “Right now you have a lot of guns pointing at each other and a ceasefire without going a little bit further would have been tough. Russia has the advantage. As you know, they have encircled about 2,500 soldiers. They are nicely encircled and that’s not good. And we want to get it over with.”
Asked by Ingraham about Russian media reports that Putin demanded an immediate cessation of aid to Ukraine in order to get to a deal, the president insisted: “No, we didn’t talk about aid, actually, we didn’t talk about aid at all. We talked about a lot of things but aid was never discussed.”
During the interview Trump described himself as a “nationalist” who has “very good” relationships with Putin, Chinese president Xi Jinping and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un.
In his earlier statement, Trump said: “Many elements of a Contract for Peace were discussed, including the fact that thousands of soldiers are being killed, and both President Putin and President Zelenskyy would like to see it end. That process is now in full force and effect, and we will, hopefully, for the sake of Humanity, get the job done!”
A White House statement said Washington and Moscow had also agreed to begin negotiations on the “implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace”. It said these negotiations would begin “immediately” in the Middle East.
During the call with Trump, which lasted two and a half hours, Putin reiterated his concerns over a range of issues that he said must be addressed before a more wide-ranging ceasefire could be implemented, according to the Kremlin statement.
The “series of significant issues” included how such a ceasefire would be enforced and whether it would give Ukraine an opportunity to strengthen its forces and receive western military aid, it said.
The Kremlin’s account of the call said Putin set several maximalist conditions for a lasting ceasefire, including the suspension of western arms and intelligence support for Ukraine. Putin also demanded that Ukraine halt the mobilisation of new recruits.
“It was emphasised that a key condition for preventing the escalation of the conflict and working toward its resolution through political and diplomatic means must be the complete cessation of foreign military aid and the provision of intelligence to Kyiv,” the Kremlin said.
There was no indication that Putin had abandoned any of his most hardline objectives in the war in Ukraine. He told Trump that peace talks must “take into account the unconditional necessity to remove the initial reasons for the crisis and Russia’s legal security interests”.
In recent statements Putin outlined these demands, which include a commitment to keeping Kyiv out of Nato, the demilitarisation of Ukraine, and full control over the four regions Moscow annexed in 2022 – effectively undermining Ukraine’s independence.
Some of Trump’s recent remarks have raised concerns that the US may prioritise securing a deal over protecting Kyiv’s interests. Before the call, he posted on Truth Social that “many elements of a Final Agreement have been agreed to, but much remains”.
Europe would be uneasy about a suspension of all weapons deliveries to Ukraine as the UK and EU are stepping up efforts to deliver fresh military aid packages to Kyiv as soon as possible.
At a news conference in Berlin with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, Olaf Scholz, the outgoing German chancellor, called an end to Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure “a good start” but stressed that “there cannot be an agreement without Ukraine”.
“The next step must be a complete ceasefire for Ukraine and as quickly as possible,” he said.
Downing Street welcomed the “progress President Trump has made towards a ceasefire” in his call with Putin, according to a spokesperson, but said negotiations must lead to a “just and lasting peace for Ukraine”.
Before the call, Trump said Russian and American negotiators had already talked about “dividing up certain assets”.
The US outlet Semafor reported on Monday that the White House was considering officially recognising Crimea – annexed by Moscow in 2014 – as Russian territory as part of a potential peace deal. Washington is also reportedly discussing the possibility of putting pressure on the UN to follow suit, it said.
In Moscow, senior Russian officials signalled their satisfaction with Putin’s conversation with Trump.
“It is official now – a PERFECT call,” Kirill Dmitriev, a senior aide close to Putin, wrote on X.
