Kiev said Zelensky is briefing the 90-minute call between Trump and Putin, a 30-day limited shutdown on Kremlin leaders agreeing to strike on Ukraine’s power grid.
While both Ukraine and Russia say they support a temporary truce, each accused the other of failing to stick to a strike on the energy infrastructure.
Ukrainian Defense Ministry said Russian missiles and drones attacked the war-exploding country overnight, killing one person and damaging two hospitals.
“Today, Putin effectively rejected a proposal for a full ceasefire,” Zelensky said.
Ukrainian National Railway Service said the barrage hit the railway energy infrastructure in the central Dnipropetrovsk region. “So many in attacks on the energy sector or in an energy truce carried out by the enemy!” Added the railway statement.
Russia’s defense ministry reported that overnight, Ukraine carried out a “deliberate” attack on oil warehouses in the south of the country, which they said was to “derail” Trump’s attempt to promote the fight.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov added: “These attacks are against our joint efforts.”
In Washington, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said technical negotiations on a possible agreement to end the war will begin in Saudi Arabia on Monday. He predicts a ceasefire agreement could be reached “within weeks.”
He told Bloomberg that the Kingdom Meeting between Trump and Putin was “possible” but no timetable was provided.
prisoner
Zelensky warned ahead of the call with Trump that Putin demanded the end of military aid to Ukraine during any ceasefire during the call.
Putin told Trump that in order to make all the ceasefires in Ukraine, Ukraine must not be allowed to resume and forced mobilization must be stopped. Kyiv countered that this would make further Russian attacks vulnerable. It hopes the U.S. will monitor a ceasefire against energy infrastructure.
Moscow said Russia and Ukraine also exchanged 372 prisoners today, which were planned to “as a gesture of goodwill.”
Trump’s proposals for Putin and signs of Washington will no longer guarantee Europe’s security scares U.S. NATO allies and prompts a sharp increase in spending on domestic defense.
Zelensky accused Russia of not being “prepared to end the war” and in Kiev, war-loving Ukrainians easily agreed.
“I don’t believe in Putin at all, not a word. He can only understand power,” said Lev Sholoudko, 32.
In Moscow, locals are more optimistic and negotiations may end the battle – Russia’s advantage.
“It’s definitely our support,” she added, Larisa, a 46-year-old Moscow resident, said, “There’s nothing else. What happened in 1945 will happen,” referring to the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany.
Trump said he had a “understanding” with Putin, who began direct negotiations with Russia in February to end the conflict, which caused fear among allies and he would succumb to Moscow’s demands.
Trump calls Putin “good and productive.”
The Kremlin statement after negotiations is called “energy infrastructure.”
Trump’s explanation is a broader “energy and infrastructure” that will include all civil infrastructure, not just energy-specific locations such as power stations, transformers and petroleum installations.
“Reallying Us”
Trump admitted in an interview with Fox News that it would be difficult to push Putin into a complete ceasefire because “Russia has an advantage.”
Moscow now accounts for one fifth of Ukraine since capturing Crimea in 2014 and launching a full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Washington has made it clear that Ukraine may have to occupy territory in any transaction.
The British and French governments have been trying to form a so-called “willed alliance” to protect any ceasefire in Ukraine.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron have vowed to continue sending military aid to Ukraine.
“Ukraine can count on us,” Scholz said.
However, soldiers on the Ukrainian front may still soon emerge with suspicious peace. “How do you trust people who attack you and kill civilians, including children?” said Oleksandr, 35, who returned to military training in the Donetsk region after being injured in the fight.
Putin hopes to formally recognize all Russian land
According to Russia’s Kommersant Daily, Putin hopes Trump will officially recognize that Moscow claims to be all four Ukrainian regions outside Crimea.
Comerast cited unnamed sources, they participated in a private business event with Putin on Tuesday, who hopes the United States will formally recognize four regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Helsen, and Moscow was seized and annexed in 2014 as part of Russia and Crimea.
Although Russia advanced on the battlefield, it did not fully control any of these four regions.
In exchange for recognition, if it happens in the “narrow future”, Putin will promise not to make claims against the Ukrainian port city of Odesa and other Ukrainian territories.
Asked about Wednesday’s Kommersant report, Kremlin spokesman Peskov said Putin and Trump did not discuss the idea on Tuesday’s call.
But he confirmed that without elaboration, Putin discussed Ukraine’s conflict in Tuesday’s closed-door meeting with members of Russian business elites.
However, Peskov did not confirm whether Putin had proposed the idea that the United States recognized the four regions at the meeting.
