Zelensky, Putin agree to a limited ceasefire, but implementation is work in progress

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Ukraine and Russia agreed in principle to a limited ceasefire after U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with the countries’ leaders this week, though it remains to be seen when it might take effect and what possible targets would be off limits to attack.

The tentative deal to partially rein in the grinding war came after Russian President Vladimir Putin rebuffed Mr. Trump’s push for a full 30-day ceasefire. The difficulty in getting the combatants to agree not to target one another’s energy infrastructure highlights the challenges Mr. Trump will face in trying to fulfill his campaign pledge to quickly end to the war.

After a roughly hour-long call with Mr. Trump on Wednesday that both leaders said went well, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters that “technical” talks in Saudi Arabia this weekend would seek to resolve what types of infrastructure would be protected under the agreement.

But it was immediately clear that the three parties had different views about what the pact entailed, with the White House saying “energy and infrastructure” would be covered, the Kremlin saying the agreement referred more narrowly to “energy infrastructure” and Mr. Zelensky saying he’d also like railways and ports to be protected.

“One of the first steps toward fully ending the war could be ending strikes on energy and other civilian infrastructure,” Mr. Zelensky said on social media following his call with Mr. Trump, which came a day after the U.S. President held similar talks with Mr. Putin. “I supported this step, and Ukraine confirmed that we are ready to implement it.”

During their call, Mr. Trump suggested that Mr. Zelensky should consider giving the U.S. ownership of Ukraine’s power plants to ensure their long-term security, according to a White House statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz.

Mr. Trump told Mr. Zelensky that the U.S could be “very helpful in running those plants with its electricity and utility expertise,” the statement said.

Mr. Trump suggested “American ownership of those plants could be the best protection for that infrastructure,” according to White House officials. The idea was floated even as the Trump administration looks to finalize an agreement to gain access to Ukraine’s critical minerals as partial repayment for U.S. support for Ukraine during the war.

Mr. Zelensky, though, said the conversation focused on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant – which is the largest of its kind in Europe and has been under Russian control since early in the war. He said Mr. Trump posed the idea of “an understanding” in which “the United States can recover” the plant.

The call, which Mr. Zelensky described as “fruitful,” came just weeks after a disastrous Oval Office meeting between the two leaders that led to Mr. Trump temporarily pausing intelligence sharing and military aid to Ukraine.

During the call, Mr. Zelensky requested additional Patriot defence missile systems. Mr. Rubio and Mr. Waltz said Mr. Trump “agreed to work with him to find what was available, particularly in Europe.”

On Tuesday, Mr. Putin told Mr. Trump that he would agree not to target Ukraine’s energy infrastructure but refused to back a full 30-day ceasefire that Mr. Trump proposed.

According to the Kremlin, Mr. Putin made clear to Mr. Trump that there must be a cessation of foreign military aid and intelligence sharing as part of any deal. But White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday underscored that U.S. “intelligence sharing in terms of defence for Ukraine” would continue.

Prior to his call with Mr. Trump, Mr. Zelensky said Mr. Putin’s limited ceasefire pledge was “very much at odds with reality” after Russia launched an overnight barrage of drone strikes across Ukraine, including some that struck Ukrainian energy facilities.

Russia responded by saying it had halted its targeting of Ukraine’s energy facilities and accused Kyiv of attacking Russian equipment near one of its pipelines.

“Unfortunately, we see that for now there is no reciprocity on the part of the Kyiv regime,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The White House described Tuesday’s call between Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin as the first step in a “movement to peace.” But there was no indication that Mr. Putin is ready to back away from his conditions for a prospective peace deal, which are fiercely opposed by Kyiv.

Mr. Zelensky, even while agreeing to work on the limited ceasefire, said Mr. Putin is not seriously pursuing peace talks, and wants to prolong the war until he is in a stronger position.

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The White House also confirmed that technical experts from the U.S., Ukraine and Russia would gather in Saudi Arabia in the coming days to discuss implementing the partial ceasefire.

It was not immediately clear if the U.S. would meet together or separately with the Ukrainian and Russian officials. Mr. Waltz spoke with his Russian counterpart, Yuri Ushakov, on Wednesday to discuss the coming talks.

Shortly after the call between Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin on Tuesday, air raid sirens sounded in Kyiv, followed by explosions as residents took shelter.

Despite efforts to repel the attack, several strikes hit civilian infrastructure, including two hospitals, a railway and more than 20 houses, Mr. Zelensky said. Russian drones were reported over Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Chernihiv, Poltava, Kharkiv, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk and Cherkasy regions.

The Russian Defence Ministry said its military had launched seven drones at power facilities related to the military-industrial complex in Ukraine’s southern Mykolaiv region, but that it shot them down after receiving Mr. Putin’s order to not hit energy infrastructure.

Moscow accused Ukraine of targeting its energy facility in the Krasnodar region bordering the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014, several hours after the Putin and Trump talks. The ministry said three drones targeted oil transfer equipment that feeds the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, causing a fire and leading one oil tank to lose pressure.

“It is absolutely clear that we are talking about yet another provocation deliberately concocted by the Kyiv regime, aimed at derailing the peace initiatives of the U.S. president,” the Russian Defence Ministry said.

Russia said its air defences intercepted 57 Ukrainian drones over the Azov Sea and several Russian regions – the border provinces of Kursk and Bryansk and the nearby regions of Oryol and Tula.

Mr. Zelensky said that “words of a ceasefire” weren’t enough.

“If the Russians don’t hit our facilities, we definitely won’t hit theirs,” Mr. Zelensky said.

Meanwhile, the two combatants said Wednesday that they had each swapped 175 prisoners in one of the largest exchanges of the war.

Mr. Zelensky rejected Mr. Putin’s key condition that Western allies stop providing military aid and intelligence to Ukraine. He said doing so would endanger lives if citizens were blind to incoming air raids and lead to the continuation of the war.

“I don’t think anybody should make any concessions in terms of helping Ukraine, but rather, assistance to Ukraine should be increased,” Mr. Zelensky said. “This will be a signal that Ukraine is ready for any surprises from the Russians.”

Mr. Zelensky said one of the most difficult issues in future negotiations would be the issue of territorial concessions.

“For us, the red line is the recognition of the Ukrainian temporarily occupied territories as Russian,” he said. “We will not go for it.”