Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is having a very important telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump to talk about the content of Trump’s recent telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, his spokesman confirmed.
“Ukraine’s President is talking on the phone with US President Donald Trump,” Zelenskyy’s spokesman Sergiy Nykyforov told the media. The White House also confirmed that the two leaders are in a conversation.
Before the call, Zelenskyy had signaled that he wanted to learn the details of Trump’s discussion with Putin, especially on the suggested partial ceasefire and the way forward in furthering peace initiatives.
His worries follow Putin’s recent assurances that Russia would cease strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure a promise that seems to be at odds with the situation on the ground. Only hours after Putin’s conversation with Trump, Russia conducted a massive overnight drone assault, striking energy facilities and civilian targets throughout Ukraine.
“Even yesterday evening, after the telephone conversation between Putin and Trump, when Putin made a statement he had ordered halting of bombing Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, overnight we saw 150 drones go up, quite a few attacking energy infrastructure,” Zelenskyy said in a Helsinki news conference with Finnish President Alexander Stubb.
The new Russian offensive occurs amid Putin’s refusal to entertain a complete 30-day ceasefire initiative, discussed during his telephone conversation with Trump. While Washington labeled the Putin-Trump talk as a possible “first step towards peace,” there is no indication Moscow is shying away from its terms conditions opposed by Kyiv strongly.
The Biden government has also held out the prospect that continuing diplomatic efforts may result in a Black Sea maritime ceasefire, but Zelenskyy is unimpressed, insisting on tangible action, not just words, from Moscow.
