Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on Tuesday to stop attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, but the 30-day ceasefire still leaves many significant issues unresolved.
The temporary truce did not include any protections for troops fighting on the front lines or for Ukrainian civilians who continue to live through Russia’s constant aerial bombardments.
Putin’s preliminary agreement came after a 90-minute phone conversation with President Donald Trump, who took to social media afterward and described it as “very good” and “productive.”
EVEN IF TRUMP SECURES UKRAINE-RUSSIA PEACE DEAL, CAN PUTIN BE TRUSTED?
“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,” he said. “That process is now in full force and effect, and we will, hopefully, for the sake of Humanity, get the job done!”
Trump later told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham on the “Ingraham Angle” that pushing Putin further in a ceasefire “would have been tough. Russia has the advantage.”
Speaking to Sean Hannity on Tuesday, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Saudi Arabia on Sunday to discuss the details of Tuesday’s agreement between the two leaders.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s questions, but in a message posted to X he said, “Putin effectively rejected the proposal for a full ceasefire.”
“It would be right for the world to respond by rejecting any attempts by Putin to prolong the war,” he continued, highlighting Russia’s continued attacks on Ukrainian civilians, including on Tuesday when a Russia-fired Shahed drone hit a hospital in Ukraine’s Sumy region.
“Sanctions against Russia. Assistance to Ukraine. “Strengthening allies in the free world and working toward security guarantees,” Zelenskyy listed as steps the Western world can take to counter Putin. “Only a real cessation of strikes on civilian infrastructure by Russia, as proof of its willingness to end this war, can bring peace closer.”
The Trump administration has argued that true negotiations can only begin once a ceasefire has been secured, though it remains unclear how negotiations will proceed with no truce that includes civilian protections from Russia’s aerial attacks.
Neither the State Department nor the White House responded to Fox News Digital’s questions on why the president believes Putin “wants to make peace” — which Trump accused Zelenskyy of not being “serious” about when he attempted to negotiate security guarantees for Ukraine last month.
Officials from NATO and the EU were also tight-lipped following the call between Trump and Putin.
Ukraine agreed to a ceasefire last week following an hours-long meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security advisor Mike Waltz, which the pair said they would then “take to the Russians.”
While Washington was short on the details of the negotiations agreed to by Kyiv, Zelenskyy said the U.S. had pushed for a full ceasefire along the front lines, in the air and on the Black Sea — a push Trump was apparently unable to secure in his Tuesday discussions with Putin.
PUTIN ORDERS PARTIAL CEASEFIRE AFTER CALL WITH TRUMP BUT NOT THE ONE HOPED FOR
Zelenskyy said his delegation had also discussed the “release of prisoners of war and detainees — both military and civilian — and the return of Ukrainian children who were forcibly transferred to Russia.”
While the Kremlin on Tuesday said Putin had agreed to a 175-prisoner swap with Ukraine, there was no mention of the 20,000 Ukrainian children Kyiv has reported to have been forcibly abducted, largely from Luhansk and Donetsk, and then funneled through adoption schemes in Russia.
There are a litany of issues that still need to be negotiated between Ukraine and Russia, which the U.S. has said Europe will also be a part of.
Putin has already made clear Ukraine should not be allowed to join NATO — which the Trump administration has also backed over concerns it could not only perpetuate but escalate the nature of Russia’s war.
European leaders and Zelenskyy have argued that peacekeeping troops should then be placed in Ukraine to prevent Russia from launching a future invasion — but Moscow has also already signaled this will be viewed as a threat to Russia.
Issues over Western arms supplies, international observance of Russian occupied lands, Ukraine’s future security, Ukrainian troops in Kursk and Russia’s continued aerial campaigns over civilian populations all remain major issues that need to be negotiated.
“Putin doesn’t share Trump’s abhorrence of war,” former CIA Moscow Station Chief Dan Hoffman told Fox News Digital. “At this point there’s no indication that he’s going to do anything else but negotiate with an eye towards ensuring Ukraine can’t deter future Russian attacks.”
Hoffman also argued that the Trump administration needs to be careful about finding itself in a situation where Washington wants a ceasefire more than Moscow.
“The strategic objective is still to destroy Ukraine,” Hoffman said. “The question is, Putin has not agreed to a ceasefire, so what are you going to do about?”
“Define success by what serves U.S. national security interests. A bad deal would not serve our interests,” he added.
“Let them go negotiate,” Hoffman said.
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