(AFP) – Ukraine and Russia on Wednesday accused each other of not respecting a halt on energy infrastructure strikes, after talks between Washington and the Kremlin aimed at ending the grinding three-year conflict. US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held a 90-minute call on Tuesday, during which the Kremlin leader backed a limited 30-day halt on strikes against Ukraine’s power grid. President Volodymyr Zelensky also said Kyiv supported the moratorium, but on Wednesday Ukraine’s defense ministry reported that an overnight barrage of Russian missiles and drones struck the war-battered nation.
“Today Putin effectively rejected the proposal for a full ceasefire,” said Zelensky. One person was killed and two hospitals were damaged, according to the defense ministry. Ukraine’s national railway service stated that the barrage hit railway energy infrastructure in the central Dnipropetrovsk region. “So much for a pause in the attacks on the energy sector or an energy truce executed by the enemy!” a railway statement added.
Russia’s defense ministry reported a “deliberate” Ukrainian attack overnight on an oil depot in the south of the country, claiming it was aimed at “derailing” Trump’s attempts to broker an end to the fighting. “These attacks are countering our common efforts,” added Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, referring to the US-Russian talks. Zelensky is due to speak to Trump on Wednesday to learn more about the US leader’s conversation with Putin and “next steps” in ceasefire talks. However, he warned beforehand against making “any concessions” to Russia, especially after Putin, in his call to Trump, demanded an end to Western military aid to Ukraine during any ceasefire.
Putin told Trump that for a full ceasefire to be effective, Ukraine must not be allowed to rearm and must halt mandatory mobilization. Kyiv argued that such conditions would leave the nation vulnerable to further Russian attacks and wants the United States to oversee a ceasefire specifically against energy infrastructure.
– ‘Ready to end war’ –
Tuesday’s highly anticipated call did not secure the breakthrough ceasefire that Ukraine had endorsed the previous week, but according to the Kremlin, Putin did order his military to pause strikes against Ukraine’s power grid for 30 days. Russia and Ukraine exchanged 372 prisoners on Wednesday, which was characterized as a planned “goodwill gesture.”
Trump’s overtures to Putin have raised concerns among the United States’s NATO allies, and indications that Washington will no longer guarantee European security have prompted calls for a significant increase in domestic defense spending. Zelensky has accused Russia of not being “ready to end this war,” and in Kyiv, war-weary Ukrainians were largely inclined to agree. “I don’t believe Putin at all, not a single word. He only understands force,” said Lev Sholoudko, 32.
Trump, who claims to have an “understanding” with Putin, shocked the world in February when he initiated direct talks with Russia to end the conflict, raising fears among allies that he would capitulate to Moscow’s demands. He hailed the call with Putin as “good and productive,” while the Kremlin’s statement following the talks referred to “energy infrastructure,” in contrast to Trump’s broader interpretation of “energy and infrastructure,” which could encompass all civil infrastructure and not just energy-specific sites like power stations, transformers, and oil installations.
– ‘Count on us’ –
Trump acknowledged in an interview on Fox News that pressing Putin into a full ceasefire would be challenging as “Russia has the advantage.” Since seizing Crimea in 2014 and launching its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Moscow has occupied around a fifth of Ukraine. Washington has indicated that Ukraine will likely have to cede territory in any potential deal.
The UK and French governments have been working to create a “coalition of the willing” to safeguard any ceasefire in Ukraine. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron vowed after the Kremlin statement that they would continue to send military aid to Ukraine. “Ukraine can count on us,” Scholz said.
However, soldiers on Ukraine’s front line remained skeptical about the prospect of peace. “How can you trust people who attack you and kill civilians, including children?” said Oleksandr, 35, who has resumed military training in the Donetsk region after being wounded in combat.
burs-phz/jm – Stanislav DOSHCHITSYN
© 2024 AFP
