Russia has agreed to a limited energy and infrastructure ceasefire in Ukraine as part of the US-led initiative to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the White House has confirmed.
In a statement released after Donald Trump’s call with Vladimir Putin, the White House said the two sides agreed to hold “technical negotiations” on a maritime ceasefire, and, further, full ceasefire and permanent peace.
“These negotiations will begin immediately in the Middle East,” the White House said.
Trump and Putin also “agreed that a future with an improved bilateral relationship between the US and Russia has huge upside,” with “enormous economic deals and geopolitical stability.”
According to both parties, Trump and Putin agreed on a limited stop in attacks on energy infrastructure, but it seems that Trump was unable to push Putin into a broader ceasefire, which would include land and sea operations.
The agreed format – with focus on energy infrastructure and further talks on stopping hostilities at sea – appears to be closer to the original proposal made by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and first publicly floated by French president Emmanuel Macron.
But we still need to hear more about the details of what was agreed.
Putin agreed to a proposal by Trump for Russia and Ukraine to stop hitting each other's energy infrastructure for 30 days and gave a corresponding order to the Russian military, the Kremlin said.
The Kremlin said the two leaders had a "detailed and frank exchange of views" on Ukraine.
During the phone call, Putin had said that a resolution of the conflict must be "comprehensive, sustainable and long-term," taking into account Russia's own security interests and the root causes of the war.
The two leaders discussed a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire, to which Ukraine agreed last week.
The Kremlin said Putin had raised "significant points" about monitoring such a truce and preventing it from being used by Ukraine to mobilize more soldiers and rearm itself.
"It was emphasized that the key condition for preventing the escalation of the conflict and working towards its resolution by political and diplomatic means should be a complete cessation of foreign military assistance and the provision of intelligence information to Kyiv," the Kremlin said.
The Guardian