Putin agreed to suspend attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities for 30 days and rejected a full ceasefire

Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to suspend attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities for 30 days, but rejected a temporary and comprehensive ceasefire plan unless the West stops all military aid to Ukraine.

Reuters reported that Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump spoke by phone on Tuesday to discuss a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine. The Kremlin said in a statement that Putin had ordered Russian forces to halt attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities after the call, but there was still a long way to go before accepting Washington's proposal for a full 30-day ceasefire.

'In the phone call, Mr. Putin reiterated that a temporary cease-fire could allow Ukraine to mobilize more soldiers and rearm itself,' the statement said. He also stressed that any solution to the conflict must include a halt to all military and intelligence aid to Kiev. Moscow has also demanded that Kiev not rearm or mobilise during any ceasefire.

Ukrainian President Volodymyria Zelensky said Kiev would support a U.S. proposal to halt the energy and infrastructure strikes, but would need to talk to Trump to find out the details of the U.S.-Russia negotiations.

According to the White House, negotiations on a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, as well as a more comprehensive ceasefire and a permanent peace agreement, will begin immediately in the Middle East.

The Russia-Ukraine war has lasted more than three years, and Ukrainian energy facilities have been repeatedly subjected to large-scale air strikes by Russian forces. Washington had earlier proposed a 30-day temporary ceasefire, which Kiev said it was willing to accept, but which would have to be agreed to by Moscow.

With Russian troops advancing in eastern Ukraine and pushing them back in the Kursk region on the Russian border, analysts say Mr. Putin may be trying to buy time by avoiding major concessions.

Kristine Berzina, managing director of the Marshall Fund, a German think tank, said Putin's agreement to suspend attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities was a "small step forward" but that the United States had not reached the agreement it wanted. "The call shows how difficult it can be for Russia to communicate, and shows Russia's overall unwillingness to discuss how to make real progress on stopping the war."

Maria Snegovaya, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a bipartisan foreign policy think tank, said Moscow's agreement to suspend attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure meant the move could benefit Russia.

After Tuesday's phone call, which lasted more than 90 minutes, Trump said in a post on social media that he praised the call as "good and productive," claiming that he and Putin had agreed to quickly reach a cease-fire and eventually a permanent peace agreement to end the war.

"Many elements of the (proposed) peace agreement were discussed, including the fact that thousands of soldiers were killed, and both President Putin and President Zelensky want to see this end."

Trump has previously suggested that a permanent peace deal could include territorial concessions from Kiev and Russian control of Ukraine's Zaporozha nuclear power plant. Before the call, he had talked about "dividing up" Ukraine's "assets," including land and power plants.

In addition to the war with Ukraine, the two leaders discussed ways to prevent future conflicts in the Middle East and "agreed that Iran should never be able to destroy Israel," the White House statement said.