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On Tuesday, March 18, 2025, Vladimir Putin told Donald Trump over the phone he’d ease up on hitting Ukraine’s energy grid, but he dug in his heels against a full ceasefire and demanded the West cut off all military support to Kyiv—a tense exchange that laid bare the limits of détente.
The two leaders, from Washington and Moscow, talked for over 90 minutes, each airing cautious optimism about patching up ties shredded by Russia’s all-out assault on its pro-Western neighbor three years back—a war that’s left relations in tatters.
Still, the much-hyped call didn’t deliver the win Trump was banking on: Putin shot down a 30-day ceasefire the U.S. had pitched—and Ukraine had already greenlit—leaving the White House’s big push stalled out of the gate.
In Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelensky gave a nod to the energy pause but didn’t mince words, saying Putin’s broader rejection of peace talks proves he’s “not serious” about ending the fight and still wants to “grind Ukraine down.”
Read also: Putin Outlines Terms For Ukraine Ceasefire
Trump insisted on his Truth Social network they had “an understanding that we will be working quickly to have a Complete Ceasefire and, ultimately, an END to this very horrible War.”
The Kremlin, however, made it clear that any full truce was a way off — and dependent on Russian demands that both Ukraine and its Western allies would find hard to accept.
A Kremlin statement said Putin agreed to pause strikes against Ukraine energy targets for 30 days and that Putin had already given the order to his military. The White House said separately that the “leaders agreed that the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire.”
Russia has launched a series of devastating attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure throughout the winter. Ukraine has used drones to bomb multiple Russian oil installations.
