Russia agrees to limited energy and infrastructure ceasefire in Ukraine, White House says
Russia has agreed to a limited energy and infrastructure ceasefire as part of the US-led initiative to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the White House has confirmed.
In a statement released after Donald Trump’s call with Vladimir Putin, the White House said the two sides agreed to hold “technical negotiations” on a maritime ceasefire, and, further, full ceasefire and permanent peace.
“These negotiations will begin immediately in the Middle East,” the White House said.
Trump and Putin also “agreed that a future with an improved bilateral relationship between the US and Russia has huge upside,” with “enormous economic deals and geopolitical stability.”
Readout of President Donald J. Trump’s Call with President Vladimir Putin
Today, President Trump and President Putin spoke about the need for peace and a ceasefire in the Ukraine war. Both leaders agreed this conflict needs to end with a lasting peace. They also stressed the need for improved bilateral relations between the United States and Russia.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.
This conflict should never have started and should have been ended long ago with sincere and good faith peace efforts. The leaders agreed that the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire, as well as technical negotiations on implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace. These negotiations will begin immediately in the Middle East.
The leaders spoke broadly about the Middle East as a region of potential cooperation to prevent future conflicts. They further discussed the need to stop proliferation of strategic weapons and will engage with others to ensure the broadest possible application. The two leaders shared the view that Iran should never be in a position to destroy Israel.
The two leaders agreed that a future with an improved bilateral relationship between the United States and Russia has huge upside. This includes enormous economic deals and geopolitical stability when peace has been achieved.
Key events
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Ukraine would support proposal to stop strikes on energy infrastructure, Zelenskyy says
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Trump says discussed elements of Ukraine peace deal in ‘productive call’ with Putin
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European leaders welcome ‘first step’ towards ceasefire, repeat calls for Ukraine to be part of talks
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US-Russia hockey games floated in Putin-Trump talks
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Putin agrees to 30-day ceasefire in attacks on energy infrastructure, but long lists of conditions, demands remain for further progress
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Russia agrees to limited energy and infrastructure ceasefire in Ukraine, White House says
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Morning opening: Waiting for the call
It’s worth noting the equivalence implied in the wording of the limited ceasefire agreement between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin regarding attacks on energy infrastructure during the war.
The Kremlin’s readout (in Russian) said Trump put forward “a proposal for the parties to the conflict to mutually refrain from attacks on energy infrastructure facilities for 30 days”.
The Kremlin has continually claimed, falsely, that it has never attacked power plants used to generate electricity for civilians. For instance, following last month’s bilateral talks in Riyadh, Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said:
We clarified [to the US] that we have never threatened systems supplying power to civilians, and that only the sites directly supplying the Ukrainian armed forces have been our targets.
But repeated attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has been a key element of Russia’s war effort. Just one example was a few months ago on Christmas Day, where a massive Russian aerial attack used cruise missiles to target energy infrastructure across Ukraine, which Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned as “inhuman”. The attack left half a million people in Kharkiv region without heating, in temperatures just a few degrees celsius above zero, while there were blackouts in the capital, Kyiv, and elsewhere.
More recently, just over a week ago Zelenskyy said Moscow launched overnight attacks on Ukraine’s energy and gas infrastructure. It targeted facilities in several regions, including Odesa and Poltava, using nearly 70 cruise and ballistic missiles and almost 200 attack drones.
“All of this was directed against infrastructure that ensures normal life,” the Ukrainian president wrote on social media.
Kyiv has demonstrated a growing willingness to target energy installations and fuel facilities in Russia in retaliation.
Ukraine would support proposal to stop strikes on energy infrastructure, Zelenskyy says
We’re now getting lines from Reuters with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s reaction to the Trump-Putin call.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine would support a US proposal to stop strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, and said he hoped to speak to US president Donald Trump about his talks with Vladimir Putin.
The White House said earlier that Putin and Trump agreed during a phone call to a limited 30-day ceasefire on energy infrastructure targets and that talks aimed at moving toward a broader peace plan would begin “immediately.”
Zelenskyy told reporters during an online briefing:
I think it will be right that we will have a conversation with President Trump and we will know in detail what the Russians offered the Americans or what the Americans offered the Russians.
‘Historic’ German spending package is ‘good news for Europe’, says Macron
On his Berlin visit, French president Emmanuel Macron praised Germany’s “historic” spending package on defence and infrastructure as “good news for Europe”, AFP reported.
In a meeting with Germany’s outgoing chancellor Olaf Scholz, Macron congratulated him “on the historic vote of the Bundestag which is good news for Germany and good news for Europe”.
Earlier today Germany’s parliament voted in favour of unleashing historic levels of spending to boost the military of Europe’s biggest economy and inject its infrastructure with investments worth hundreds of billions of euros.
The package has been hailed by some as a necessary measure to give Germany the fiscal heft it needs to ensure national and European security, but by others as a “highly risky bet” that will be a burden for generations to come.
The German chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz told MPs the package was mainly motivated by “Putin’s war of aggression against Europe”, listing a range of suspected Russian sabotage “taking place every day” against Germany. He said these included attacks on critical infrastructure, arson attacks, spying and disinformation campaigns, as well as broader “attempts to divide and marginalise the European Union”.
Acknowledging that his funding plans were viewed with concern by many who feared the burden of debt, Merz said it was time to acknowledge the new era in which Germany found itself, not least having to be independent from the US.
For more on that, here is my colleague Kate Connolly’s full report:
Trump says discussed elements of Ukraine peace deal in ‘productive call’ with Putin
Donald Trump said his call with Vladimir Putin was “a very good and productive one” and the agreement for Russia to end attacks on energy infrastructure came “with an understanding that we will be working quickly to have a complete ceasefire”.
“Many elements of a contract for peace were discussed,” he said, adding: “That process is now in full force and effect, and we will, hopefully, for the sake of humanity, get the job done!”
He wrote on his platform Truth Social:
My phone conversation today with President Putin of Russia was a very good and productive one. 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. This War would have never started if I were President! 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. That process is now in full force and effect, and we will, hopefully, for the sake of Humanity, get the job done!
European leaders welcome ‘first step’ towards ceasefire, repeat calls for Ukraine to be part of talks
We’re starting to get reaction from European leaders to the very limited ceasefire agreed during the Trump-Putin call, maintaining that a total ceasefire must follow – and there must be no decisions made without Ukraine and over Ukraine’s head.
At a news conference in Berlin with French president Emmanuel Macron, Olaf Scholz, the outgoing German chancellor, said that while the agreement to end Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure is “a good start” and an important first step, “there cannot be an agreement without Ukraine”.
The next step must be a complete ceasefire for Ukraine and as quickly as possible. Of course it is clear that we both agree on this too.
Macron echoed the need for Ukrainian involvement.
We have been promoting peace since day one and that cannot be achieved without Ukraine taking part in talks.
As we’ve been reporting, some progress towards a ceasefire seems to have been made during the more than two-hour-long call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. But, as expected, Moscow has laid out stiff demands for a full truce.
As Bloomberg (paywall) reported this morning, Putin wants a halt to all arms shipments to Ukraine as a prerequisite to any agreement to fully pause the war. The Kremlin readout outlines that a priority for Russia remains “the need to stop forced mobilization in Ukraine and rearm the Ukrainian Armed Forces”, and a key condition for preventing escalation of the war is “complete cessation of foreign military aid and the provision of intelligence information to Kyiv”.
As my colleague Pjotr Sauer reported earlier, Europe is likely to be uneasy about agreeing to this condition, as the UK and European Union are ramping up efforts to deliver fresh military aid packages to Kyiv as soon as possible. European leaders fear that any such agreement would produce a scenario in which Russia simply rearms to attack Ukraine again after the ceasefire ends, while Ukraine would be left unable to prepare a defence.
Jakub Krupa
On that note, that’s all from me Jakub Krupa, but I’m leaving you with Lucy Campbell to guide you through the evening as we expect to learn more about what was discussed between Trump and Putin.
Stay with our coverage on Europe Live.
US-Russia hockey games floated in Putin-Trump talks
Curiously, the Russian readout also includes an amusing line that the two leaders appeared to discuss Putin’s idea to “organise hockey matches in the United States and Russia” between Russian and American players performing in the NHL and the Russian equivalent, the KHL (Kontinental Hockey League).
There is no mention of that in the US readout.
Jakub Krupa
According to both parties, Trump and Putin agreed on a limited stop in attacks on energy infrastructure, but it seems that Trump was unable to push Putin into a broader ceasefire, which would include land and sea operations.
The agreed format – with focus on energy infrastructure and further talks on stopping hostilities at sea – appears to be closer to the much narrower original proposal made by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and first publicly floated by French president Emmanuel Macron.
On other issues, there doesn’t appear to be much progress, with major differences remaining.
But we still need to hear more about the details of what was agreed.
Putin agrees to 30-day ceasefire in attacks on energy infrastructure, but long lists of conditions, demands remain for further progress
The Kremlin readout, in Russian, is more extensive, and gives us a glimpse into Putin’s arguments – and a long list of conditions and demands on his side.
It says the Russian side “outlined a number of significant points” requiring further consideration, including on “effective control” over any ceasefire along the line of conflict, and Russia’s demand to stop mobilisation of Ukrainians and rearming of its armed forces alongside its broader request to “eliminate the root causes of the crisis.”
The statement also added Moscow’s “key condition” to prevent further escalation of the conflict in a demand to “completely cease” foreign military aid and intelligence sharing for Ukraine.
But the readout confirms that Putin has agreed to a 30-day ceasefire on energy infrastructure, and says the Russian leader has already issued relevant orders.
The Kremlin’s text also says that Putin “responded constructively” to proposal of a ceasefire at sea, with further negotiations expected on this issue.
The statement also says that Putin informed Trump of plans for a Russian-Ukrainian swap of 175 prisoners of war on each side, and “as a gesture of goodwill” a further release of 23 “seriously wounded” Ukrainian servicemen.
The readout also covered their discussions on the Middle East and the Red Sea, as well as broader push to “normalise bilateral relations.”
Russia agrees to limited energy and infrastructure ceasefire in Ukraine, White House says
Russia has agreed to a limited energy and infrastructure ceasefire as part of the US-led initiative to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the White House has confirmed.
In a statement released after Donald Trump’s call with Vladimir Putin, the White House said the two sides agreed to hold “technical negotiations” on a maritime ceasefire, and, further, full ceasefire and permanent peace.
“These negotiations will begin immediately in the Middle East,” the White House said.
Trump and Putin also “agreed that a future with an improved bilateral relationship between the US and Russia has huge upside,” with “enormous economic deals and geopolitical stability.”
Readout of President Donald J. Trump’s Call with President Vladimir Putin
Today, President Trump and President Putin spoke about the need for peace and a ceasefire in the Ukraine war. Both leaders agreed this conflict needs to end with a lasting peace. They also stressed the need for improved bilateral relations between the United States and Russia.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.
This conflict should never have started and should have been ended long ago with sincere and good faith peace efforts. The leaders agreed that the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire, as well as technical negotiations on implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace. These negotiations will begin immediately in the Middle East.
The leaders spoke broadly about the Middle East as a region of potential cooperation to prevent future conflicts. They further discussed the need to stop proliferation of strategic weapons and will engage with others to ensure the broadest possible application. The two leaders shared the view that Iran should never be in a position to destroy Israel.
The two leaders agreed that a future with an improved bilateral relationship between the United States and Russia has huge upside. This includes enormous economic deals and geopolitical stability when peace has been achieved.
Russia and Ukraine to swap 175 prisoners of war, Kremlin says
We’re getting first lines from the Kremlin, via Reuters, confirming that the two leaders discussed Ukraine and agreed that Ukraine and Russia will swap 175 prisoners of war.
These early reports say the pair agreed to “set up expert groups on Ukrainian settlement” to work further on the issue.
They also say the two discussed Middle East, and energy.
We will bring you more soon.
Both the Kremlin and the White House have now confirmed the call is over.
US broadcaster CBS News and Russian state news agency TASS are reporting that the Trump-Putin phone call has now concluded.
We will bring you any official lines as soon as we get them.
We are still waiting to hear from the White House or the Kremlin, but…
We just got this line via Reuters from Kirill Dmitriev, Vladimir Putin’s special envoy on international economic and investment cooperation, reportedly saying that:
Under the leadership of president Putin and president Trump, the world has become a much safer place today.
Let’s wait and see what that means.
