Trump holds firm against Putin's demands in crucial call

U.S. President Donald Trump held a phone conversation with Vladimir Putin, focusing primarily on the situation in Ukraine. Although Trump did not achieve significant concessions from the Russian leader, Atlantic Council analyst Andrew D’Anieri emphasized that he did not yield to Putin's "maximalist demands."

In a White House statement following the conversation, it was noted that the leaders agreed on a ceasefire concerning attacks on infrastructure and energy installations and the initiation of negotiations on further steps. However, a broader, 30-day ceasefire, which Ukraine had previously agreed to, was not announced.

Unfortunately, this reflects the White House's approach to Russia's war against Ukraine. The White House and Trump personally have already made so many unilateral concessions to Russia, receiving essentially nothing in return, that most people who care about U.S. national security felt a slight relief that he didn't give the Russian side even more, said D'Anieri, as quoted by the Polish Press Agency.

D’Anieri pointed out that Trump did not agree to such demands from Putin as the demilitarization of Ukraine, stopping military and intelligence support, and lifting sanctions against Moscow. The expert considered this a positive aspect of the conversation, given the U.S. administration's previous policy.

After the conversation, the Kremlin reported that Putin agreed to halt the shelling of Ukrainian energy infrastructure for 30 days but demanded a complete cessation of Western military aid to Ukraine. D’Anieri expressed concerns that the Trump administration is opening up to normalizing relations with Russia, which could allow Moscow to manipulate negotiations regarding Ukraine.

The Russians may say: if you meet our demands concerning Ukraine, we will give you various things in our broader relations (...) I think it's a ruse, and the U.S. should not fall for this kind of deceit in future negotiations, warned the expert.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russia has repeatedly claimed that it does not attack civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, even though Russian missiles often hit residential buildings, energy installations, hospitals, and schools. The attacks on energy infrastructure were part of a coordinated campaign.

D’Anieri expressed hope that in the future, Trump will obtain concessions from the Russians because so far he has received practically nothing besides a partial ceasefire. The expert emphasized that after the conversation, Russian troops continued to attack energy infrastructure in Ukraine.