VLADIMIR Putin agreed to a limited ceasefire in Ukraine yesterday as historic talks with Donald Trump failed to halt three years of bloodshed.
The US President remained bullish after the two leaders’ lengthy phone call, saying he can “get the job done”.
However, the war-weary people of Ukraine had hoped for an end to all Russian hostilities which have left a million dead or wounded.
Putin, known as a Russian tyrant, made Trump wait before agreeing to a 30-day pause in attacks on power plants and to start talks on a sea truce.
In an easing of diplomatic relations between the US and Russia, there was also a promise for the two nations to play each other at ice hockey.
The Kremlin announced that Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, must accept a prohibition on bringing in Western weapons and enlisting soldiers while the ceasefire is in effect.
Under the agreement, Russia is allowed to persevere with air and sea assaults on Ukraine and expand its territory by relentlessly attacking the front line.
Last night Zelensky — who previously announced that Ukraine was willing to agree to a 30-day truce on all fronts — said Russia was not ready for an end to hostilities.
He said: “We’ve always supported the idea of not attacking energy [infrastructure] with any weapons.”
The apparent carve-up came as Trump and Putin talked for around two-and-a-half hours — and pledged to resume closer ties.
However, analysts said that Putin appeared to have won all the concessions he wanted from Trump, who prides himself on being a tough negotiator.
They warn the Russian strongman — who has a long list of demands for an end to the war — has bought his forces vital time to retake a pocket of territory in Kursk, western Russia, where Ukrainian troops are already in retreat.
The call was hailed as an “epic” moment by a top Putin envoy.
Kremlin finance chief Kirill A. Dmitriev posted on X: “Under the leadership of President Putin and President Trump, the world has become a much safer place today! Historic! Epic!”
The Kremlin announced Putin had ordered his military to stop all attacks on power stations and infrastructure.
Zelensky, in turn, must order a block on drone and missile attacks on pipelines, refineries, and power stations inside Russia.
The move will be followed up by immediate talks in the Middle East to forge a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea south of Ukraine.
Last night No10 said it welcomed the “progress President Trump has made towards a ceasefire”.
My phone conversation today with President Putin of Russia was a very good and productive one
Donald Trump
Negotiations must lead to a “just and lasting peace for Ukraine”, it added.
Putin’s strategy last night appeared to have delayed any imminent end to the horrific “meat grinder” land war in Ukraine.
More than a million troops have been killed or wounded since the start of the conflict — with three-quarters being Russians sacrificed in Putin’s “Special Military Operation”.
Yesterday’s leaders’ call was lengthened by the need for interpreters. Trump, 78, spoke from the White House’s Oval Office while Putin, 72, took the call at his grand desk in the Kremlin.
Trump later posted on his own Truth Social platform: “My phone conversation today with President Putin of Russia was a very good and productive one.
“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. This war would have never started if I were President!
“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 Zelensky 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!”
However, Putin has not budged from his original goals — what he calls the “root causes” of the war — of a Nato rollback in Eastern Europe and a defenceless demilitarised Ukraine.
The leaders agreed that the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire
The White House
A Kremlin statement stressed Putin told Trump his people were victims of Ukrainian “terrorists”.
It added: “It was emphasised that the key condition for preventing the escalation of the conflict should be the complete cessation of foreign military aid and the provision of intelligence information to Kyiv.”
Meanwhile, the White House said in a statement: “The leaders agreed that the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire.”
It said agreement had also been reached on “technical negotiations on implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace”.
The statement continued: “These negotiations will begin immediately in the Middle East.”
It said the two leaders had also discussed reducing their nuclear arsenals and forging warmer relations after years in the diplomatic deep freeze.
Yesterday’s deal included a mutual exchange of 175 prisoners of war from both sides plus the return of 23 seriously wounded Ukrainians as a sign of Russian “good faith”.
The change in US-Russian relations was also marked by an agreement for the nations to send ice hockey teams to play international matches.
Russia has been banned by most sporting federations since the illegal invasion of Ukraine ordered by Putin, who is a keen ice hockey player and fan.
The Kremlin said: “Donald Trump supported Vladimir Putin’s idea to organise hockey matches in the US and Russia between Russian and American players playing in the NHL and KHL.
“The presidents agreed to stay in touch on all issues raised.”
Putin, notorious for keeping world leaders waiting, held a meeting with Russian business chiefs before yesterday’s call.
It meant the start of the negotiations were delayed for an hour – though the Russian laughed off claims he was keeping Trump waiting on purpose.
He went on to sneer that the West was losing its decades-long grip on global power.
He told Russia’s Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs minutes before talking to Trump: “Western dominance slipping away and new centres of global growth emerging. This is a long-term trend”.
HR McMaster, Trump’s ex-national security adviser, said he feared Trump had been played.
He told Fox News: “This is typical of Putin.
“What he’s really going to try to do is try to get Trump and the US to accept a deal that is unacceptable to the Ukrainians, and then try to turn the US not only against Ukraine but against Europe.”
DON’S BEEN PLAYED
By Jerome Starkey
IT is a sign of how badly Donald Trump has been played that Putin’s only concession to Kyiv was not to murder prisoners of war.
The ruthless Russian tyrant agreed to a limited pause — by both sides — on energy infrastructure attacks.
And the fact he agreed to that suggests Ukraine’s long-range strikes on oil depots must be hurting.
But it was the Kremlin’s comments on Kursk that were most revealing. Trump claimed thousands of Ukrainian soldiers were surrounded in the province — a gross exaggeration.
Yesterday the Kremlin responded: “Putin confirmed the Russian side is ready to be guided by humanitarian considerations and, in the event of surrender, guarantees the lives and decent treatment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers in accordance with international law.”
Putin has simply agreed to follow a most basic rule of conflict.
So what else did he plan to do? And were previous murders of prisoners the acts of rogue soldiers? Or as Ukraine has argued, were they part of a deliberate Kremlin policy?
