KEY POINTS
- Zelensky spoke with Trump after his call with Putin regarding a ceasefire
- Russia and Ukraine reported strikes on energy infrastructure overnight
- Technical talks for a ceasefire deal to begin in Saudi Arabia on Monday
- Russia and Ukraine exchanged 372 prisoners
KYIV, Ukraine: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with Donald Trump on Wednesday to discuss details of the US President’s call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin for a lasting ceasefire to end the war.
Kyiv said Zelensky was being briefed about Tuesday’s 90-minute call between Trump and Putin that saw the Kremlin leader agree to a 30-day halt on strikes against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Despite both Ukraine and Russia saying they backed a temporary truce, each accused the other of failing to adhere to halt strikes on energy infrastructure.
Ukraine’s defence ministry said an overnight barrage of Russian missile and drones struck the country.
“Today Putin effectively rejected the proposal for a full ceasefire,” said Zelensky.
Ukraine’s national railway service said the barrage had hit railway energy infrastructure in the central Dnipropetrovsk region.
Russia’s defence ministry reported a “deliberate” Ukrainian attack overnight on an oil depot in the south of the country, which they said was aimed at “derailing” Trump’s attempts to broker an end to the fighting.
“These attacks are countering our common efforts,” added Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, referring to the US-Russian talks.
In Washington, US envoy Steve Witkoff said technical talks on a possible deal to end the war would begin in Saudi Arabia on Monday. He predicted that a ceasefire agreement could be reached “within a couple of weeks”.
He told Bloomberg Television that a meeting in the kingdom between Trump and Putin was “likely” but offered no timeline.
Russia-Ukraine exchange prisoners
Zelensky warned before his call with Trump against making “any concessions” to Russia after Putin in his call to Trump demanded an end to Western military aid to Ukraine during any ceasefire.
Putin told Trump that for a full ceasefire to work, Ukraine must not be allowed to rearm and must halt mandatory mobilisation.
On Wednesday, Russia and Ukraine exchanged 372 prisoners, Moscow said Wednesday, which was planned “as a goodwill gesture”.
Trump’s overtures to Putin and indications Washington will no longer guarantee European security have spooked the United States’s NATO allies and prompted moves towards a steep increase in domestic defence spending.
Trump, who says he has an “understanding” with Putin, stunned the world in February when he started direct talks with Russia to end the conflict, sparking fears among allies that he would capitulate to Moscow’s demands.
Trump hailed the call with Putin as “good and productive”.
Full ceasefire will be tough
The Kremlin statement after the talks referred to “energy infrastructure”. Trump’s interpretation is the broader “energy and infrastructure” which would include all civil infrastructure and not just energy-specific sites like power stations, transformers, and oil installations.
Trump acknowledged in an interview on Fox News that pressing Putin into a full ceasefire would be tough as “Russia has the advantage”.
Washington has made clear that Ukraine will likely have to cede territory in any deal.
The UK and French governments have been trying to assemble a “coalition of the willing” to protect any ceasefire in Ukraine.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron vowed after the Kremlin statement that they would keep sending military aid to Ukraine.
“Ukraine can count on us,” Scholz said.
