Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed on Tuesday that a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine will be limited, while talks aimed at promoting a broader peace plan will begin “begin immediately” immediately, the White House said.
Putin no longer accepts a 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine says it is ready to accept a broader U.S.-backed ceasefire. The Kremlin said in a statement following a long call between the two leaders that the Russian president made “important views” in mobilizing more soldiers and re-attacks in Ukraine to mobilize more soldiers and rebuild.
Putin also stressed that “complete cessation of foreign military aid and provision of intelligence information to Kiev” is a condition of any permanent peace agreement.
According to White House readers, the two countries plan to start negotiations in the Middle East with a maritime ceasefire.
“The leaders agreed that the peace movement will begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire, as well as technical negotiations on the implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace,” the reader said.
Get the latest information about CBCNews.ca, the CBC News app and the CBC News Network.
Trump has been urging Putin to agree that Ukraine has accepted a 30-day ceasefire backed by the United States as it has accepted part of Europe's biggest conflict since World War II to move towards a permanent peace deal. The war has killed or injured hundreds of thousands of people, displaced, millions, and the entire town has turned into rubble.
Trump hinted that the permanent peace agreement could include territorial concessions in Kiev and control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine.
Since returning to the White House in January, the U.S. president's proposal to put in place traditional American allies on their guard.
Ukraine and its Western allies have long regarded Russian invasions as imperialist land looting, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accusing Putin of deliberately extending the war.
Zelenskyy arrived in Finland on Tuesday to discuss NATO support for Ukraine, saying Ukraine’s sovereignty is unnegotiable and that Russia must abandon its seized territory. He said that if Moscow's ambitions were allowed to retain its occupied territory, it would not stop in Ukraine.
European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen warned on Tuesday that Russia has greatly expanded its military industrial production capacity in preparation for “a future confrontation with European democracies.”
British leader spoke with Trump late Monday, a spokesman for the UK leader said, “reaffirming that all must work together to put Ukraine in the strongest position to ensure just and lasting peace.”
After Russia invaded in February 2014 in February 2022, it occupied the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine, most of the four eastern regions of Ukraine. All this tells one fifth of Ukrainian territory.
Putin said he sent troops into Ukraine as NATO's spread and expansion threatened Russia's security. He asked Ukraine to give up any ambition to join the Western military alliance.
Putin also said Russia must control Ukrainian territory it has seized, Western sanctions should be relaxed, and Kiev must participate in the presidential election. Zelenskyy was elected in 2019 and has been in office for martial law imposed by the war.
