Putin agrees to limited Ukraine ceasefire after call with Trump: White House

Washington: US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have spoken at length about the war in Ukraine, but appeared to stop short of agreement on a full and immediate 30-day ceasefire as proposed by the United States and backed by Kyiv.

The two leaders spoke by telephone for about two hours on Tuesday morning, local time, in a much anticipated conversation that came as Washington attempts to broker a quick ceasefire and peace deal without US military involvement in any security guarantee.

A White House readout of the call said the leaders agreed 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”.

Negotiations will begin immediately in the Middle East, the Washington summary said, and “both leaders agreed this conflict needs to end with a lasting peace”.

Russia has struck Ukrainian oil and gas facilities hard in recent weeks after Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s televised argument in the Oval Office and the US’s brief suspension of military aid and intelligence sharing with Kyiv.

Loading

While Putin appeared to agree to a cessation of airstrikes on energy infrastructure, the commitment fell significantly short of an immediate 30-day ceasefire on land, air and sea proposed by the US and agreed by Ukraine last week.

The White House readout of the call made no mention of that proposal, which had also been discussed with Putin in Moscow during a visit last week by Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff.

Before the call, Zelensky said it was clear Putin wanted to drag out the war. “For a week now, Putin has been unable to squeeze out ‘yes’ to the ceasefire proposal. He’s saying whatever he wants, but not what the whole world wants to hear,” Zelensky said on X.