BBC State Department Correspondent
President Vladimir Putin has rejected an immediate and full ceasefire in Ukraine, agreeing only to halt attacks on energy infrastructure, following a call with US President Donald Trump.
The Russian leader declined to sign up to the comprehensive month-long ceasefire that Trump’s team recently worked out with Ukrainians in Saudi Arabia.
He said a comprehensive truce could only work if foreign military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine came to an end. Ukraine’s European allies have previously rejected such conditions.
US talks on Ukraine are due to continue on Sunday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the US envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, said.
In the grinding three-year war, Russia has recently been taking back territory in its Kursk region that was occupied by a Ukrainian incursion six months ago.
The results of Tuesday’s Trump-Putin call amount to a retreat in the US position from where it stood a week ago, although the two leaders did agree that further peace talks would take place immediately in the Middle East.
When a US delegation met Ukrainian counterparts in Jeddah last Tuesday, they convinced Kyiv to agree to their proposal for an “immediate” 30-day ceasefire, across land, air and sea.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, who arrived in Helsinki, Finland, for an official visit on Tuesday shortly after Trump and Putin’s call ended, said Ukraine was open to the idea of a truce covering energy infrastructure, but wanted more details first.
He later accused Putin of rejecting a ceasefire following a barrage of Russian drone attacks.
Among the places targeted was a hospital in Sumy, and power supplies in Slovyansk, said Ukraine’s leader.
“Unfortunately, there have been hits, specifically on civilian infrastructure,” Zelensky said on X. “Today, Putin effectively rejected the proposal for a full ceasefire.”
Trump posted earlier on social media that his call with the Russian leader was “very good and productive” and that “many elements of a Contract for Peace were discussed”.
“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,” the US president said on Truth Social.
About 80% of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has been destroyed by Russian bombs, Zelensky said last September.
Kyiv has in turn conducted drone and missile strikes deep into Russian territory, on oil and gas facilities.
Following last week’s talks in Jeddah, Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said “the ball” was in Russia’s court, after the Ukrainians accepted Washington’s proposal for a full ceasefire.
But the White House’s statement following the Trump-Putin call on Tuesday made no reference to that agreement with Kyiv.
It instead said the two leaders agreed that “the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire”, followed by negotiations over a “maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace”.
But the Kremlin’s own statement on the call noted what it said were a “series of significant issues” around enforcing any agreement with Kyiv. And it said the end of foreign support and intelligence for Ukraine was a “key condition” for Russia.
Trump and Putin agreed to immediate technical-level talks towards a longer-term settlement, which the Kremlin said must be “complex, stable and long-term in nature”.
But it’s unclear if this means further negotiations between the US and Russia, or bilateral talks between Russia and Ukraine.
The Kremlin also said Trump supported Putin’s idea of holding ice hockey matches between professional US and Russian players.
Russia was frozen out of ice hockey events overseas after the country invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Kyiv will probably see the outcome of Tuesday’s much-anticipated phone call as Putin playing for time, while he adds crippling conditions on any settlement.
Putin has previously insisted Russia should keep control of Ukrainian territory it has seized and has called for Western sanctions to be eased as part of any eventual peace settlement.
The Russian leader has already tasted Trump’s readiness to cut off US support to Ukraine, and is trying to get him to repeat it – while tossing the ball back to Kyiv.
Earlier this month the US temporarily suspended military and intelligence aid to Ukraine after Trump and Zelensky had an altercation in the Oval Office.
Trump and his Vice-President JD Vance dressed down Zelensky in front of the world’s media, accusing him of being ungrateful for American support.
Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday in Berlin with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the limited ceasefire plan was an important first step, but he again called for a complete ceasefire.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer spoke to Zelensky after the Trump-Putin call and “reiterated [the] UK’s unwavering support”, a Downing Street spokeswoman said.
