Putin agrees to 30-day halt on Ukraine energy facility strikes, not full truce

Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed yesterday to US President Donald Trump’s proposal for a month-long halt to strikes against energy infrastructure in Ukraine but stopped short of accepting a full US-backed 30-day ceasefire.Talks aimed at advancing toward a broader peace plan will begin immediately, the White House said following a lengthy call between the two leaders.Putin ordered the Russian military to stop attacks against energy sites after speaking with Trump, the Kremlin said in a statement. But he again raised concerns during the call that a temporary ceasefire might allow Ukraine to mobilise more soldiers and rearm itself.Putin also emphasised that any resolution of the conflict would require an end to all military and intelligence assistance to Ukraine, the Kremlin added.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Putin is dragging out discussions as fighting continues. Russian forces are advancing in Ukraine’s east and pushing back Ukrainian troops from Russia’s Kursk region.Negotiations on a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, as well as a more complete ceasefire and a permanent peace deal, will commence immediately in the Middle East, the White House said in a statement, though it did not say whether Ukraine would be invited.It was not clear whether Zelensky would agree to halt his military’s strikes on Russian energy targets. Since Russia’s 2022 invasion, Ukraine has tried to fight back against its much larger neighbour with drone and missile strikes deep in Russian territory, including on energy facilities. Those attacks, which Moscow says amount to terrorism, have allowed Kyiv to keep pressure on Russia’s economy.In a social media post after the call, Trump said he and Putin had agreed to work quickly toward a ceasefire and eventually a permanent peace agreement."Many elements of a Contract for Peace were discussed, including the fact that thousands of soldiers are being killed, and both President Putin and President Zelenskyy would like to see it end,” he wrote, using an alternate spelling for the Ukrainian leader.Ukraine said on March 11 it was prepared to accept a 30-day ceasefire, a step that US officials said would lead to a more substantial round of negotiations to end Europe’s biggest conflict since World War Two. The war has killed or wounded hundreds of thousands of people, displaced millions and reduced entire towns to rubble.Trump has hinted that a permanent peace deal could include territorial concessions by Kyiv and control of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.Zelensky, who arrived in Helsinki for an official visit yesterday shortly after Trump and Putin’s call ended, said Europe must be included in Ukraine peace talks."Europe must be at the negotiating table, and everything that concerns European security must be decided together with Europe,” Zelensky wrote on social media.The agreement on a narrow ceasefire reflects Trump’s desire to normalise relations with Russia and suggests that Putin may be playing for time, said Susan Colbourn, an expert on European security issues at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy."It was striking how little concession Trump is asking from the Russians, although they invaded their neighbour,” Colbourn said.The US president’s overtures to Putin since returning to the White House in January have left traditional US allies wary.A ceasefire on attacking energy infrastructure could be favourable to Russia, given Ukrainian forces have been effectively attacking Russian oil refineries, said Maria Snegovaya, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.Ukraine and its Western allies have long described Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as an imperialist land grab, and Zelensky has accused Putin of deliberately prolonging the war.Zelensky says Ukraine’s sovereignty is not negotiable and Russia must surrender the territory it has seized.Speaking at a press conference in Berlin with French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday, Germany’s outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the limited ceasefire was an important first step but again called for a complete ceasefire. He reiterated that Ukraine must be part of any final decision.In a call with Trump late on Monday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer "reiterated that all must work together to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position to secure a just and lasting peace,” the British leader’s spokesperson said.