In a highly anticipated phone call on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to an immediate pause in strikes against energy and infrastructure targets in the Ukraine war.
But Putin stopped short of backing a broader 30-day pause in fighting that the US 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 that negotiations would “begin immediately” in the Middle East on those steps. Shortly after the call, air raid alerts sounded in Kyiv, followed by explosions in the city. Local officials urged people to seek shelter.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Ukraine is onboard with the limited ceasefire plan. During a meeting last week with US officials in Saudi Arabia, Ukraine supported a proposal for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire. However, many Ukrainians, both military and civilian, are skeptical that Russia is at all interested in ending the war.
Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines say they are thinking about more immediate matters — like surviving drone attacks.
One soldier, who goes by the call sign Jamon — he didn’t give his real name for security reasons and per Ukraine’s military policy — said from the northern region of Sumy that with drones overhead, “You feel like a prey; the drones are hunters. You know that he is looking for you. If he sees you, they will attack you.”
Jamon, who serves in a drone unit, has been stationed since August on the front lines inside the Russian Kursk region where Trump has recently claimed that thousands of Ukrainian soldiers were on the verge of being encircled.
“That’s completely untrue because we have retreated successfully; we haven’t been encircled. Almost every one of our troops have retreated; it was just a slow and controlled retreat,” Jamon said, adding that the Ukrainian retreat from Kursk began in early February.
When it comes to the bigger picture of ceasefire negotiations between the US, Russia and Ukraine, Jamon said that he is skeptical.
“Russia is just trying to fool everyone. They have just become stronger and stronger every single day. They are really in good positions; it’s no reason for them to stop, it’s no reason for them to end the war.”
Another soldier, with the call sign Azot, said he agrees.
He said that he does not believe that these negotiations will yield any tangible results, but he said that many of his fellow soldiers welcome the idea of a 30-day ceasefire.
“It was welcomed because any ceasefire is going to be calm, let’s say, so at least some of the people finally will have an opportunity to go to their beloved ones who they haven’t seen for, I don’t know, three years sometimes.”
But Azot said that a comprehensive peace deal seems unlikely, because Russia has publicly made unreasonable demands on Ukraine.
“Ukraine will not stop recruiting; Ukraine will not stop training; it’s a suicidal thing. Ukraine will not stop to bring more weapons in; it’s a suicidal thing if otherwise, Ukraine will not agree to territorial concessions.”
From Ukraine’s perspective, the Kremlin’s preconditions are part of a strategy to undermine the country and weaken its ability to defend itself.
Oleksandr Kraiev, a political analyst with Ukrainian Prism, a Kyiv-based think tank, said that despite the lack of trust, he still thinks a 30-day ceasefire is possible.
“The main idea is that a ceasefire is a prerequisite for any negotiation, profitable or nonprofitable, for both sides,” he said. “If we want something to happen, if we want to at least try to start the negotiation, then the ceasefire is necessary.”
Although Kraiev is optimistic that a temporary ceasefire can be achieved, he said that he believes it’ll be shaky at best.
“Russia will break the ceasefire — it’s not a question of if; it’s a question of when. Maybe it’s my Ukrainian bias but since the war started, I have finished high school, I have finished university, I started teaching in university and Russia was always breaking the ceasefire agreements.”
Kraiev said that he doesn’t believe Russia really wants to end the war. Perhaps a best-case scenario could look like this:
“I do believe we will end up with a Netflix diplomacy. So, the subscription to the ceasefire will renew itself automatically; there will be a price for it, economic price, sanctions price, weapon price, but as with any subscription, you will forget about it, it will be just like a background for your life. Yeah, it’s kind of cynical, but that’s the thing that has been going on since 2015.”
In this scenario, that one-month ceasefire becomes a renewable status quo that contains the war into something more manageable.
Sergii Grabskyi is a retired Ukrainian colonel and a military expert.
He said that there’s war fatigue in Ukraine, yet people know that stopping the fight isn’t an option and that European countries will play more of a leadership role in supporting Ukraine.
As for the negotiations with Russia, Grabskyi put it bluntly.
“Any negotiation with an animal, with a beast, does not make any sense. As Mr. Churchill said, it’s correct, it is a stupid thing to negotiate with a tiger, having your head in its mouth.”
On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X that Russia is to blame for dragging out this war.
He said that Putin has been unable to accept the ceasefire proposal, and he said that “pressure is needed to finally make Moscow accept that their war must be brought to an end.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.