Putin agrees to ceasefire on energy, infrastructure targets in Ukraine

President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed during a lengthy call Tuesday to an immediate pause in strikes against energy and infrastructure targets in the Ukraine war, but the Russian leader stopped short of backing a broader 30-day pause in fighting that the U.S. administration is pressing for.

The White House described it as the first step in a “movement to peace” it hopes will eventually include a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea and a full and lasting end to the fighting.

The White House added negotiations would “begin immediately” in the Middle East on those steps. Shortly after the call between Trump and Putin, air raid alerts sounded in Kyiv, followed by explosions in the city. Local officials urged people to seek shelter.

It was not immediately clear whether Ukraine is on board with the limited ceasefire plan.

Ukrainian officials had proposed a ceasefire covering the Black Sea and long-range missile strikes and the release of prisoners at their meeting with the U.S delegation in Saudi Arabia earlier this month.

“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 social media following his call.

The Kremlin said Putin welcomed Trump’s calls for the maritime ceasefire and “agreed to begin negotiations to further work out specific details of such an agreement.”

Putin also told Trump that Russia and Ukraine are set to exchange 175 prisoners of war each on Wednesday, and Russia will also hand over to Ukraine 23 badly wounded soldiers, the Kremlin said.

Putin also called on Trump to end foreign military and intelligence assistance to Ukraine as the U.S. looks to bring an end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the Kremlin.

The move comes as the White House pushes for Russia to sign off on its 30-day ceasefire proposal aimed at ending the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials last week agreed to the 30-day ceasefire proposal during talks in Saudi Arabia led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, however, remains skeptical that Putin is ready for peace as Russian forces continue to pound Ukraine.

The engagement is just the latest turn in dramatically shifting U.S.-Russia relations as Trump made quickly ending the conflict a top priority — even at the expense of straining ties with longtime American allies who want Putin to pay a price for the invasion.

In preparation for the Trump-Putin call , White House special envoy Steve Witkoff met last week with Putin in Moscow to discuss the proposal. Rubio had persuaded senior Ukrainian officials during talks in Saudi Arabia to agree to the ceasefire framework.

Putin last week said he agreed in principle with the U.S. proposal, but emphasized that Russia would seek guarantees that Ukraine would not use a break in hostilities to rearm and continue mobilization. The Russian president has also demanded that Ukraine renounce joining the NATO military alliance, sharply cut its army, and protect Russian language and culture to keep the country in Moscow’s orbit.

The U.S. president said this week that Washington and Moscow have already begun discussing “dividing up certain assets” between Ukraine and Russia as part of a deal to end the conflict.

Trump, who during his campaign pledged to end the war quickly, has at moments boasted of his relationship with Putin and blamed Ukraine for Russia’s unprovoked invasion , all while accusing Zelenskyy of unnecessarily prolonging the biggest land war in Europe since World War II.

Trump had said before the call that control of land and power plants would be part of the conversation, which came on the anniversary of Russia annexing Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula 11 years ago. That bold land grab by Russia set the stage for Russia to invade its neighbor in 2022.

Witkoff suggested that U.S. and Russian officials have discussed the fate of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant — Europe’s largest — in southern Ukraine.

The plant has been caught in the crossfire since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in 2022 and seized the facility shortly after. The U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly expressed alarm about it, fueling fears of a potential nuclear catastrophe.

The plant is a significant asset, producing nearly one-fourth of Ukraine’s electricity in the year before the war.

After a disastrous Feb. 28 White House meeting with Zelenskyy, Trump temporarily cut off some military intelligence-sharing and aid to Ukraine. It was restored after the Ukrainians last week signed off on the Trump administration’s 30-day ceasefire proposal.

Zelenskyy in his nightly video address on Monday made clear he remains doubtful that Putin is ready for peace.

“Now, almost a week later, it’s clear to everyone in the world — even to those who refused to acknowledge the truth for the past three years — that it is Putin who continues to drag out this war,” Zelenskyy said.

In his dealings with Zelenskyy and Putin, Trump has frequently focused on who has the leverage. Putin has “the cards” and Zelenskyy does not, Trump has said repeatedly.

Trump, who has long shown admiration for Putin, has also made clear he’d like to see the U.S.-Russia relationship return to a more normal footing.

The president during his recent contentious meeting with Zelenskyy grumbled that “Putin went through a hell of a lot with me,” a reference to the federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election in which he beat Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Trump on Monday again underscored his view that Ukraine is not in a strong negotiating position. He said Russian forces have “surrounded” Ukrainian troops in Russia’s Kursk region — amplifying an assertion made by Russian officials that’s been disputed by Zelenskyy.

Ukraine’s army stunned Russia in August last year by attacking across the border and taking control of an estimated 500 square miles of land. But Ukraine’s forces are now in retreat and it has all but lost a valuable bargaining chip, as momentum builds for a ceasefire with Russia.

Zelenskyy has acknowledged that the Ukrainians are on their back foot while disputing Russian claims that his troops are encircled in Kursk.

Trump suggested that he’s taken unspecified action that has kept Russia from slaughtering Ukrainian troops in Kursk.

“They’re surrounded by Russian soldiers, and I believe if it wasn’t for me they wouldn’t be here any longer,” Trump said.

The White House said the leaders also discussed the situation in the Middle East and agreed “Iran should never be in a position to destroy Israel.”

U.S. officials have previously said that Iran has provided Russia with short-range ballistic missiles and attack drones for the war in Ukraine. The U.S. has also said that Iran has assisted the Kremlin with building a drone-manufacturing factory.

Isachenkov reported from Moscow.

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普和俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京周二进行了长时间的通话，双方同意立即暂停对乌克兰战争中能源和基础设施目标的袭击，但这位俄罗斯领导人并未支持美国政府正在敦促的更广泛的30天停火。

白宫称这是“和平运动”的第一步，并希望最终能实现黑海海上停火，彻底、持久地结束战斗。

白宫补充说，将立即在中东就这些措施展开谈判。特朗普与普京通话后不久，基辅响起空袭警报，随后城内发生爆炸。当地官员敦促民众寻找掩体。

目前尚不清楚乌克兰是否同意这项有限的停火计划。

本月初，乌克兰官员在沙特阿拉伯与美国代表团会晤时，曾提议在黑海和远程导弹袭击范围内停火，并释放战俘。

特朗普在通话后在社交媒体上发帖称：“我们同意立即在所有能源和基础设施领域停火，并达成共识，我们将迅速努力实现全面停火，并最终结束俄罗斯和乌克兰之间这场可怕的战争。”

克里姆林宫表示，普京欢迎特朗普呼吁海上停火，并“同意开始谈判，以进一步敲定此类协议的具体细节”。

克里姆林宫表示，普京还告诉特朗普，俄罗斯和乌克兰将于周三分别交换175名战俘，俄罗斯还将向乌克兰移交23名重伤士兵。

据克里姆林宫消息，普京还呼吁特朗普停止向乌克兰提供外国军事和情报援助，因为美国希望结束俄罗斯对乌克兰的入侵。

此举正值白宫敦促俄罗斯签署其旨在结束俄罗斯入侵乌克兰的30天停火提议之际。

上周，乌克兰官员在沙特阿拉伯举行的由美国国务卿马可·卢比奥主持的会谈中同意了为期30天的停火提议。然而，乌克兰总统泽连斯基仍然怀疑普京是否真的准备好实现和平，因为俄罗斯军队仍在继续炮击乌克兰。

此次接触只是美俄关系急剧转变的最新进展，特朗普将迅速结束冲突作为首要任务——即使这意味着要牺牲与美国长期盟友的紧张关系，这些盟友希望普京为入侵付出代价。

为筹备特朗普与普京的通话，白宫特使史蒂夫·威特科夫上周在莫斯科会见了普京，讨论了相关提议。此前，卢比奥在沙特阿拉伯的会谈中说服了乌克兰高级官员同意停火框架。

普京上周表示，他原则上同意美国的提议，但强调俄罗斯将寻求乌克兰保证，确保乌克兰不会利用停火期间重新武装并继续动员。这位俄罗斯总统还要求乌克兰放弃加入北约，大幅削减军队规模，并保护俄罗斯语言和文化，以确保乌克兰继续留在莫斯科的势力范围内。

美国总统本周表示，华盛顿和莫斯科已经开始讨论在乌克兰和俄罗斯之间“分割某些资产”，作为结束冲突的协议的一部分。

特朗普在竞选期间曾承诺迅速结束战争，但他有时却吹嘘自己与普京的关系，并指责乌克兰发动了俄罗斯的无端入侵，同时还指责泽连斯基不必要地延长了二战以来欧洲规模最大的陆地战争。

特朗普在通话前曾表示，控制土地和发电厂将是此次通话的内容之一。此次通话恰逢俄罗斯吞并乌克兰克里米亚半岛11周年纪念日。俄罗斯大胆的领土掠夺为俄罗斯在2022年入侵其邻国埋下了伏笔。

维特科夫暗示，美国和俄罗斯官员已经讨论过位于乌克兰南部的扎波罗热核电站（欧洲最大的核电站）的命运。

自2022年莫斯科向乌克兰派兵并随后占领该设施以来，这座核电站一直处于战火之中。联合国国际原子能机构已多次对此表示担忧，加剧了人们对潜在核灾难的恐惧。

该电厂是一项重要的资产，在战前一年，它生产了乌克兰近四分之一的电力。

在2月28日与泽连斯基在白宫举行了一场灾难性的会晤后，特朗普暂时切断了对乌克兰的部分军事情报共享和援助。上周，乌克兰方面签署了特朗普政府提出的为期30天的停火方案，援助才得以恢复。

泽连斯基在周一晚间的视频讲话中明确表示，他仍然怀疑普京是否准备好实现和平。

泽连斯基说：“现在，将近一周过去了，全世界每个人都清楚——即使是那些在过去三年里拒绝承认真相的人——是普京在继续拖延这场战争。”

在与泽连斯基和普京的交往中，特朗普经常关注谁掌握着筹码。他反复表示，普京“手握王牌”，而泽连斯基则没有。

长期以来一直对普京表示钦佩的特朗普也明确表示，他希望看到美俄关系恢复到更加正常的水平。

在最近与泽连斯基的一次充满争议的会晤中，总统抱怨说“普京和我相处得非常艰难”，他指的是联邦政府对俄罗斯干预 2016 年总统选举的调查，在那次选举中，他击败了民主党人希拉里·克林顿。

周一，特朗​​普再次强调乌克兰在谈判中处于不利地位。他声称俄罗斯军队已在俄罗斯库尔斯克地区“包围”了乌克兰军队——这一说法与俄罗斯官员此前的说法相呼应，但遭到了泽连斯基的否认。

去年8月，乌克兰军队越境进攻俄罗斯，夺取了约500平方英里的土地，令俄罗斯震惊。但如今，乌克兰军队正在撤退，几乎失去了重要的谈判筹码，而与俄罗斯达成停火协议的势头却日益增强。

泽连斯基承认乌克兰军队目前处于劣势，同时驳斥了俄罗斯关于其军队在库尔斯克被包围的说法。

特朗普暗示，他采取了未指明的行动，阻止了俄罗斯在库尔斯克屠杀乌克兰军队。

“他们被俄罗斯士兵包围了，我相信如果不是我，他们早就被关在这里了，”特朗普说。

白宫表示，两国领导人还讨论了中东局势，并一致认为“伊朗绝不应该处于能够摧毁以色列的地位”。

美国官员此前曾表示，伊朗向俄罗斯提供了用于乌克兰战争的短程弹道导弹和攻击型无人机。美国还表示，伊朗协助克里姆林宫建造了一座无人机制造厂。

伊萨琴科夫从莫斯科报道。