Zürcher Nachrichten - Zelensky accuses Russia of rejecting ceasefire after new strikes

Washington has been pushing for an immediate 30-day ceasefire as a first step to ending the grinding three-year-old war.

But in a 90-minute call with US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, Russian leader Vladimir Putin said a comprehensive deal would be contingent on the West halting all military aid and intelligence to Ukraine.

While the highly anticipated call did not secure the breakthrough ceasefire endorsed by Ukraine last week, it did result in a scaled-back commitment to halt attacks on energy infrastructure for 30 days.

According to the Kremlin, Putin has already ordered his military to pause strikes against Ukraine's power grid for 30 days.

Russia and Ukraine will also exchange 175 prisoners each on Wednesday "as a goodwill gesture", with further talks to take place immediately in the Middle East.

But the Russian government said a fuller truce was dependent on its long-standing demands for a "complete cessation" of Western military and intelligence support to Ukraine's military.

A Kremlin statement also demanded that Kyiv could not rearm or mobilise during any ceasefire.

Just hours after Trump and Putin spoke, explosions rang out and air raid sirens wailed in Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said "there have been hits, specifically on civilian infrastructure", including a hospital in Sumy.

"Today, Putin effectively rejected the proposal for a full ceasefire."

Ukraine authorities later said Russia had launched six missiles and dozens of drones overnight in a barrage that killed one person and damaged two hospitals.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said the strikes showed that Putin was "playing a game".

"We've seen that attacks on civilian infrastructure have not eased at all in the first night after this supposedly ground-breaking, great phone call," he said.

For EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, based "it is clear that Russia does not really want to make any kind of concessions".

She also insisted that Kremlin demands to stop arming Kyiv could not be accepted.

Across the border, Russian emergency service officials said debris from a repelled Ukrainian drone attack ignited a fire at an oil depot in the village of Kavkazskaya.

- 'Only understands force' -

Zelensky has accused Russia of not being "ready to end this war". In Kyiv, war-weary Ukrainians were prone to agree.

"I don't believe Putin at all, not a single word. He only understands force," said Lev Sholoudko, 32.

Trump, who says he has an "understanding" with Putin, stunned the world in February when he started direct talks with Russia to end the conflict, sparking fears among allies that he would capitulate to Moscow's demands.

Trump hailed the call with Putin as "good and productive".

"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," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

The Kremlin statement after the talks referred to "energy infrastructure" whereas Trump's interpretation is the broader "energy and infrastructure" which would include all civil infrastructure and not just energy-specific sites like power stations, transformers, and oil installations.

In a televised interview after the Trump-Putin call, US envoy Steve Witkoff said ceasefire talks would pick up again Sunday in Jeddah.

He acknowledged lingering "details to work out", including negotiations on a maritime ceasefire for the Black Sea and, eventually, a full truce.

- 'Count on us' -

Speaking to Fox News, Trump acknowledged that pressing Putin into a full ceasefire would be tough as "Russia has the advantage".

Since seizing Crimea in 2014 and launching its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Moscow now occupies around a fifth of Ukraine.

Washington has made clear that Ukraine will likely have to cede territory in any deal.

Western allies have watched with alarm as Trump has upended years of US policy staunchly backing Ukraine, most evident in his televised shouting match with Zelensky in the Oval Office.

The UK and French governments have been cobbling together a so-called "coalition of the willing" to protect any ceasefire in Ukraine.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron vowed after the Kremlin statement that they would keep sending military aid to Ukraine.

"Ukraine can count on us," Scholz said.

But soldiers on Ukraine's front line remained doubtful peace could soon be at hand.

"How can you trust people who attack you and kill civilians, including children?" said Oleksandr, 35, who has returned to military training in the Donetsk region after being wounded in combat.

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F.Carpenteri--NZN