After 90 minutes on the phone, the two leaders agree to "immediately" initiate new talks on a ceasefire in Ukraine. The way forward is proposed to begin with a 30-day stop on attacks against energy infrastructure and negotiations on a ceasefire at sea.
A failure for Trump. He was supposed to achieve a complete ceasefire and we don't see that. This is just Putin's delaying tactic, says Jan Hallenberg, professor emeritus in political science.
Possible for Ukraine to accept
Ukraine has previously proposed a ceasefire regarding attacks on energy infrastructure and at sea. A small step in the right direction and something that Ukraine can agree to, believes Hallenberg.
A complete stop for American military support and intelligence support is to be a Russian "key condition" at the same time.
Of course, the USA should not agree to that, but I don't rule it out. If they do, it's a catastrophe for Ukraine and a capitulation from the USA's side towards Russia.
He highlights the Ukrainian setbacks in the Russian Kursk region.
I think the failure in Kursk was largely due to the lack of intelligence information. Then one can imagine that the front collapses somewhere else this time.
Pressure on Russia
Fredrik Wesslau, former deputy head of the EU mission in Ukraine and now at the Centre for East European Studies, says it's no surprise that Russia has a strong interest in a ceasefire, especially regarding infrastructure and energy networks.
Ukraine has been very successful in using its own drones to strike against refineries and other energy infrastructure deep inside Russia. That has put pressure on Russia, says Wesslau.
In the White House statement after the conversation, normalization of relations between the USA and Russia is also mentioned – something that is driving the Trump administration, according to Wesslau.
They see the war in Ukraine as a problem that needs to be pushed aside to achieve normalization between the USA and Russia. The statement also mentions the possibility of investments and geopolitical stability in the world.
