With Putin, you can never get what you want, he gets what he needs

The Greek Courier

Donald Trump is under the impression that he "owns" Vladimir Putin, but it's the other way around. A call between them today ended again with frustration for the White House as it stopped short of a U.S. proposal for a temporary truce in Ukraine. Instead, it produced a limited agreement for Moscow and Kiyv to cease attacks on energy infrastructure which buys more time for Putin to consolidate his military's latest gains in Kursk and elsewhere. Furthermore, hours after the call, air raid sirens sounded and explosions rocked the Ukrainian capital city of Kyiv! 

According to a White House statement which also confirmed that discussions would begin immediately in the Middle East, the plan is to stop hitting each other's power plants and electric grids first, so the negotiators can move on to a potential halt in fighting on the Black Sea and then to a full ceasefire in the three-year-old Ukraine war. 

But it's gonna take time. Trump's team has been meeting with representatives of Moscow and Kyiv separately, but his promises to bring a rapid end to the conflict during his White House campaign have been unable to bring about a resolution so far.

Different readouts

Regarding today's phone call, the White House and the Kremlin both said they agreed to begin negotiations "immediately" to achieve a fuller ceasefire. A Russian readout of the call from the Kremlin said a key condition for working toward a resolution to the conflict "should be the complete cessation of foreign military aid and the provision of intelligence information to Kyiv." The White House readout did not contain that information, or Mr. Trump's response. 

Trump on Truth Social

"My phone conversation today with President Putin of Russia was a very good and productive one," Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. "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. ... Many elements of a contract for peace were discussed, including the fact that thousands of soldiers are being killed, and both President Putin and President Zelenskyy would like to see it end."