Russia and Ukraine are trading blame for continued air attacks on civilian targets in Ukrainian regions Sumy and Donetsk and on energy targets in Russia’s Krasnodar since Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to a 30-day halt on attacks on energy infrastructure targets in Ukraine following a phone call with United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday.
So will the halt on energy attacks be the first step to securing peace in Ukraine, or was it merely a stalling tactic to let the war drag on? Here is what we know so far.
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What did Trump and Putin agree to? What did they not agree to?
Trump and Putin had a lengthy telephone call in which they discussed the ongoing Russian war with Ukraine.
Following the call, the White House and the Kremlin announced that the two leaders had agreed on a 30-day pause on attacks on energy infrastructure targets in Russia and Ukraine.
However, Putin stopped short of agreeing to cease missile, drone and bomb attacks in the Black Sea and across the front line. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed to the 30-day ceasefire proposal from Trump on March 11.
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Russia and the US said they would begin talks on the terms for a ceasefire in the Black Sea.
There were some differences between the statements released by the White House and the Kremlin, leading to uncertainty among observers and analysts. In particular, Russia included several demands in its statement while the White House made no reference to them.
“There is a lot we don’t know because there’s a difference between what the White House and Kremlin have reported from this call,” Keir Giles, a senior consulting fellow at the London-based Chatham House think tank, told Al Jazeera.
“At the moment, peace seems further away as a result of Russia’s additional demands,” Giles said.
What did the White House say?
The White House statement is shorter than that released by the Kremlin and does not spell out the demands made by Putin to achieve a complete ceasefire. The statement includes the following:
- Both Trump and Putin have agreed that the conflict needs to end and lasting peace needs to be established. “The blood and treasure that both Ukraine and Russia have been spending in this war would be better spent on the needs of their people,” the statement reads.
- The US and Russia will expand their bilateral relationship.
- While the move towards peace will begin with a halt on targeting energy infrastructure, technical negotiations will begin immediately in the Middle East on bringing maritime peace to the Black Sea, as well as a full ceasefire and permanent peace. A specific location was not given for these talks, but in February and March, mediators from the US separately met representatives from Russia and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia.
- The two leaders discussed cooperating on their approach to the Middle East to prevent future conflicts and agreed that “Iran should never be in a position to destroy Israel”.
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What did the Kremlin say?
According to the Kremlin statement, Putin laid down a series of conditions to be met before the parties can advance towards a ceasefire across the Russia-Ukraine front line. The Kremlin’s statement included the following:
- Putin expressed gratitude to Trump for his desire to help end the war. The US and Russia will work on improving bilateral ties.
- Putin has agreed to Trump’s request for a 30-day pause on attacks on energy infrastructure and immediately commanded the Russian military to follow through.
- The Russian president expressed a fundamental commitment to a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine war in collaboration with his US partners, which would be long-term and sustainable. Russian and US expert groups are being created to work out terms for a settlement in Ukraine.
- To achieve a ceasefire across the line of contact, Moscow raised concerns about the rearmament of Ukrainian forces, as well as “forced mobilisation”, referring to claims that Ukrainian men have been rounded up and forced to enlist in the army.
- The statement claimed that “barbaric terrorist crimes” had been committed by the Ukrainian army against civilians in Kursk.
- It also stated that the key condition to resolving the conflict would be a “complete cessation” of foreign military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine. The statement does not specify whether this would apply to aid sent by just the US or other allies of Ukraine as well.
- In response to Trump’s appeal to spare the lives of Ukrainian soldiers in Kursk, Putin said Russia is ready to guarantee the lives and decent treatment of Ukrainian troops in accordance with Russian and international law if they surrender.
- There will be negotiations between the US and Russia to work out specifics for a ceasefire in the Black Sea. The Russian statement did not specify whether Ukraine or other European nations would be included.
- A prisoner exchange will take place on Wednesday, through which 175 Russians and 175 Ukrainians will be released. Additionally, 23 injured Ukrainian servicemen who are receiving treatment in Russian medical facilities will be handed over. There has so far been no news of such a swap taking place.
- The US and Russia will make combined efforts to stabilise the situation in the Middle East.
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How has Zelenskyy responded?
The Ukrainian president said Kyiv would support any attempt to bring peace to the region, but added that he wished to see specific details from Trump.
“We need to understand what exactly we support,” he said in a video message.
Calling Trump a “busy man”, Zelenskyy continued, “when [Trump] has time, he can call me any time … we are ready to talk through further steps.”
In reference to Putin’s demands for a cessation of military and intelligence assistance to Ukraine, Zelenskyy, during a news conference with Finland’s President Alexander Stubb on Wednesday, said: “I do not believe that we should make any concessions in terms of assistance for Ukraine, but rather there should be an increase in assistance for Ukraine.”
After a fiery meeting in the Oval Office between Trump and Zelenskyy on February 28, in which the Ukrainian leader was admonished for not showing enough “gratitude” to the US for its aid, Washington paused military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine. This assistance was restored when Washington and Kyiv agreed to peace terms on March 11. Experts said this assistance is crucial to Kyiv and its suspension temporarily left a gap that could not be bridged by Ukraine’s European allies.
Zelenskyy added that he would speak to Trump later on Wednesday to obtain more details of the phone call with Putin.
What has happened since Trump and Putin spoke?
In a post on his X account on Tuesday, Zelenskyy wrote that Russian drones had hit civilian infrastructure, including a hospital in Sumy, as well as cities in the Donetsk region.
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“It is these types of nighttime attacks by Russia that destroy our energy sector, our infrastructure, and the normal life of Ukrainians,” wrote Zelenskyy.
“Today, Putin effectively rejected the proposal for a full ceasefire. It would be right for the world to respond by rejecting any attempts by Putin to prolong the war,” he wrote, adding that sanctions should be levied against Russia and assistance should be provided to Ukraine.
“Only a real cessation of strikes on civilian infrastructure by Russia, as proof of its willingness to end this war, can bring peace closer.”
On Wednesday, the Russian Ministry of Defence reported that Ukraine had attacked an energy facility in the south of Russia’s Krasnodar region.
What energy infrastructure was being targeted in Russia and Ukraine?
In early March 2022, Russian troops occupied Zaphorizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe’s largest, in southeast Ukraine. The power plant has six reactors with a capacity of 1 gigawatt each. In September 2022, hostilities near the site prompted Energoatom, the Ukrainian state agency in charge of the plant, to shut down the last reactor.
In retaliation, Ukraine has targeted Russian oil refineries and industrial sites. These attacks have ramped up since January. Ukraine has also been taking aim at Russia’s oil and gas pipelines and pumping stations. In February, the refineries were hit hard, impacting about 10 percent of Russian refining capacity, calculations made by the Reuters news agency based on traders’ data showed.
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“It is clear the damage that Ukraine has been doing to Russia’s energy infrastructure is something Russia wants to stop,” said Giles.