A high call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to try to agree a ceasefire that will help put an end to the invasion of Ukraine, who ended with the Russian leader to stop the strikes on Ukraine’s energy roast for 30 days without the full ceasefire that the US and Kyiv sought.
The Kremlin said Putin gave an immediate order to Russia’s army to stop such strikes in the wake of the call. Ukraine welcomes any downtime in the usual missiles and drones that can fall into eclipses with Kyiv accusing Moscow of terrorizing his citizens with the large-scale air strikes. But what is clear is that the Kremlin has little intention for a broader peace without testing some of the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s red lines.
The 90-minute call was the first time the two leaders spoke since Ukraine agreed to the US in Saudi Arabia last week. Putin claimed to agree with the idea of a ceasefire in principle, but the Kremlin did during the call with Mr. Trump said he demanded that any broader ceasefire should include mobilizing the Ukrainians and the relocation of his armed forces, including stopping Western military assistance and intelligence support.
Ukraine relies on military aid and intelligence to protect itself, while many European countries will also be uncomfortable about any proposal to stop military assistance at a time when the UK and the EU will support Kyiv as soon as possible.
Mr. Trump and the White House made the effort to build the idea of progress in the talks, with Washington trying hard to make Putin agree to an agreement. And there were indeed a few points of optimism during the call. The White House described the stop in Energy Grid strikes as the first step in a ‘movement to peace’ which hopes it will eventually include a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea and a full and lasting end to the fighting. It has been added that fresh negotiations “will start in the Middle East immediately”. The two leaders also promised to continue to discuss a ceasefire.
After the call, Mr. Trump called it ‘very good and productive’. He wrote on his truth social platform, saying that the two leaders “understand that we will work quickly to have a complete ceasefire and eventually end an end to this very horrible war between Russia and Ukraine”.
“Many elements of a peace contract have been discussed, including the fact that thousands of soldiers are killed, and both President Putin and President Zelensky want to see it end,” Trump added.
However, the Kremlin was more careful, suggesting that there are still many questions that need to be answered. Indeed, Putin still spoke at a meeting of Russian business leaders when the Kremlin suggested that the call may start at 1pm GMT. During the appearance, he draws a question as to whether he is late for the call – to the laugh of the audience. According to White House officials, the call would be running at 14:00.
The call is being monitored by countries around the world, not least in Kyiv. Mr. Zelensky is skeptical of Putin’s intentions – because he repeatedly accused him of extending the war by refusing to give a definite answer to the ceasefire. The Russian leader went to broader negotiations on a long -term array to the war; His demands are likely to include a commitment to keeping Ukraine out of NATO and demilitarizing them. Mr. Zelensky is strong against both. The fact that the Ukrainian president, while the Trump-Putin call took place, arrived in Finland-which joined NATO in the aftermath of Putin’s invasion of military assistance, will not be lost to Moscow.
Putin has also said before that Russia should control the Ukrainian area it seized, but there was little land in either explanation of the White House or the Kremlin. Mr. Trump said over the weekend that Russian and US negotiators had already talked about “dividing certain assets” – while reports in the US media on Monday suggested one of the options that the White House considered was to recognize the occupied Ukrainian Peninsula of Crimea as Russian area in an attempt to push through a ceasefire. The Crimea was illegally attached by Moscow in 2014, to international outrage, and drone and rocket strikes in the region were a big part of the current war.
Mr. Trump, who promises the White House again during his campaign, promises to end the war “in 24 hours”, he boasted his relationship with Putin. The White House statement about the call said the two leaders agreed that an “improved bilateral relationship between the United States and Russia has great upside down”. And that includes “enormous economic transactions and geopolitical stability when peace is reached”.
In that respect, the Kremlin said that Mr. Trump “Vladimir Putin’s idea of organizing hockey matches in the US and Russia between Russian and American players” who played in every country’s professional leagues.
In his dealings with Mr. Zelensky and Putin have Mr. Trump regularly focused on who the leverage has. Putin has ‘the cards’ and Mr. Zelensky doesn’t, Trump said repeatedly. He made the view clear again before the call with the Russian president.
He said the Russian forces have “surrounded” the Ukrainian troops in the Koursk region in the Russia, strengthening a allegation by Russian officials conducted by Mr. Zelensky was disputed. The army of Ukraine stunned Russia in August last year by attacking the border and taking control of a piece of land.
But the Ukrainian powers are now back and the country is losing a valuable bargaining disc, as momentum builds for a ceasefire.
Mr. Zelensky acknowledged that the Ukrainians were on the back foot while disputing Russian allegations that his troops were surrounded in Kursk.
Mr. Trump suggested that he took unspecified steps that prevented Russia from slaughtering the Ukrainian troops.
“They are surrounded by Russian soldiers, and I believe that if it wasn’t for me, they would no longer be here,” Trump said.
After the call with Mr. Trump said the Kremlin that the Russian leader told the US president that Russia was ready to guarantee that the Ukrainian soldiers blocked in the Russia’s Kursk region would save their lives and be treated in accordance with international law if they surrendered. Kyiv has previously played on such demands.
What Mr. Zelensky is concerned, he is still doubtful that Mr. Putin is ready for the lasting peace and that the outcome of the Trump-Putin call is unlikely to shift the view. “Now … a week [after the talks in Saudi Arabia] It is clear to everyone in the world, even for those who have refused to acknowledge the truth over the past three years, that it is Mr. Putin is what this war continues, ”said Mr.
