Trump, Putin agree on halt in Ukraine energy attacks, but no ceasefire
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US President Donald Trump (left) held a lengthy phone discussion with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on March 18.
PHOTO: AFP
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MOSCOW - US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed on March 18 on a halt in Russian attacks against Ukrainian energy targets – but fell far short of securing a full ceasefire in a highly anticipated phone call.
The US and Russian leaders spoke for more than an hour and a half, and both expressed hopes for repairing relations between the countries.
However, there was no agreement from the Russian President for Washington’s proposed full 30-day ceasefire
The Kremlin said Mr Putin agreed to pause strikes on Ukraine energy targets for 30 days and that Mr Putin had already given the order to his military. The White House said separately that the “leaders agreed that the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire”.
But hours after the Trump-Putin call, both Russia and Ukraine reported attacks
Mr Zelensky said Russia launched more than 40 drones against Ukraine, with damages reported at two hospitals in Sumy in north-east Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the authorities in the southern Russian region of Krasnodar said a Ukrainian drone attack sparked a small fire at an oil depot located near the village of Kavkazskaya. No one was injured in the fire, which spread across 20 sq m, but 30 employees were evacuated.
Russia has launched a series of devastating attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure throughout the three-year-old war. According to the Kremlin statement, Ukraine – which has bombed multiple Russian oil installations – had also agreed to the truce on energy targets, although Kyiv had yet to comment.
The two leaders agreed that broader truce talks would “begin immediately in the Middle East”, the White House said in its statement, also citing a “huge upside” if Russia and the United States improve their relations.
But the Kremlin statement said a “key condition” for peace would be ending Western military and intelligence support to Ukraine’s embattled military – a position that will alarm Kyiv and European capitals that have already accused Mr Putin of stalling.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff said on March 18 that talks on a ceasefire will continue on March 23
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on March 18 said Ukraine was favourable to a US-proposed truce
Speaking after the call between Mr Trump and Mr Putin, Mr Zelensky also warned in an online briefing that Mr Putin wanted to “weaken” Ukraine and was “not ready to end this war”.
“After we get the details from the US President, from the US side, we will give our answer,” he told reporters of the energy truce.
“Our side will maintain it” as long as Moscow abides by it, he said, adding that the US should be “guarantors of control over the implementation”.
“I think it would be right if we would have a conversation with President Trump and know the details of what the Russians offered the Americans or what the Americans offered the Russians,” Mr Zelensky said.
Mr Trump told Fox News that aid to Ukraine did not come up in the conversation.
On the evening of March 18, Mr Zelensky spoke with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and provided an update on the front-line situation, Downing Street said. Mr Starmer reiterated Britain’s “unwavering support”, according to the statement.
Earlier, PA Media, citing Mr Starmer’s office, reported that Britain welcomed the “progress” Mr Trump has made towards a ceasefire in Ukraine and said negotiations must lead to a “just and lasting peace”.
‘Wants peace’
Mr Trump had already made clear before the call that he was ready to discuss “dividing up certain assets” – what parts of occupied Ukraine that Russia would be allowed to keep.
The US President said on his Truth Social network on the eve of the call that “many elements of a final agreement have been agreed to, but much remains” to be settled.
US allies, alarmed by Mr Trump’s recent pivot towards Russia, fear the Republican will give too much ground to the Russian President, a leader for whom Mr Trump has repeatedly expressed admiration.
Kyiv had already agreed to the US proposal to halt fighting for 30 days. It said on March 18 before the call that it expected Moscow to “unconditionally” accept the ceasefire.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said: “It is time for Russia to show whether it really wants peace.”
But Mr Putin has repeatedly said there were further issues that needed discussion, which the March 18 call apparently failed to fully resolve.
Mr Putin gave a hardline anti-Western speech on March 18 before the call, saying the West would still try to undermine Russia, even if it lifted sanctions imposed over its invasion of Ukraine.
He mocked the Group of Seven rich democracies – from which Russia was expelled in 2018 – to wild applause from the audience, saying it was too small to “see on a map”.
‘End NOW’
Mr Zelensky has warned that Mr Putin does not want peace and is trying to achieve a better position militarily ahead of any halt in fighting.
Russia has attacked Ukraine with near-daily barrages of drones and missiles for more than three years, occupying some 20 per cent of southern and eastern Ukraine and pressing a grinding advance in recent months.
The Kremlin has also hailed Moscow’s quick offensive in the Kursk region, parts of which Ukraine seized in 2024 and was hoping to use as a bargaining chip.
The push towards a ceasefire began in February when Mr Trump announced he had spoken to Mr Putin – a surprise call that broke Western efforts to isolate the Russian leader while his invasion continues.
As Mr Trump upended years of US policy, he then had a televised shouting match
On March 16, Mr Trump said he would discuss issues of “land” and “power plants” with Mr Putin – a likely reference to the Moscow-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
Mr Trump is, however, intent on delivering on an election pledge to end fighting in Ukraine, blaming his predecessor Joe Biden’s policy on Russia for fuelling the war.
“It must end NOW,” Mr Trump said on Truth Social. AFP, REUTERS
