Putin unwilling to make concessions, says EU’s Kallas
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has warned that Moscow cannot be trusted to make concessions after Tuesday’s phone call between Putin and Trump.
“If you read the two readouts from the call, it is clear that… Russia does not really want to make any kind of concessions,” Kallas told reporters in Brussels.
Putin sees Trump as ‘opportunity’ to fulfil Russia’s longstanding aims
FRANCE 24’s Eve Irvine has spoken to Matthew Wyman, a Russia expert at Keele University in Britain, about the relationship between Trump and Putin and the two leaders’ respective aims.
“Trump clearly admires Putin very much,” says Wyman. “I think Trump would really like to have a political system that operates in the same way as Putin, where political opponents disappear and there’s no meaningful obstruction to him doing what he wants.”
He adds: “In reverse, Putin clearly sees in Trump an opportunity to achieve what has been the Russians’ main aim for many decades, going back to the Soviet Union, which is to divide the West, to divide America from Europe.”
Kyiv says Russia fired six missiles, 145 drones at Ukraine overnight
Kyiv says Russian forces have launched six missiles and dozens of drones at Ukraine overnight in a barrage that killed one person and damaged two hospitals.
The Ukrainian air force said its air defence units downed 72 of 145 drones, in an attack that came after Russia agreed to temporarily halt strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure but refused an immediate, all-encompassing ceasefire.
Prisoner swap expected in ‘goodwill gesture’
In their call on Tuesday, Putin and Trump agreed on a Russian-Ukrainian prisoner exchange, with 175 to be freed by each side, according to the Kremlin.
Russia will also return 23 wounded Ukrainian soldiers “as a goodwill gesture”, it said.
The warring countries last swapped prisoners on February 5, when each released 150 POWs.
Germany says ‘Putin playing a game’ after new Ukraine strikes
Germany has accused President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday of “playing a game” after Kyiv reported Russian strikes on Ukranian civilian infrastructure hours after Moscow agreed to temporarily pause attacks on energy facilities.
“We’ve seen that attacks on civilian infrastructure have not eased at all in the first night after this supposedly ground-breaking, great phone call” between Putin and US President Donald Trump, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said in a TV interview.
Air defence systems, sirens sound in Kyiv after Trump-Putin call
US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed on Tuesday to halt Russian attacks against Ukrainian energy targets for a 30-day period – but fell far short of securing a full ceasefire in a highly anticipated phone call.
The US and Russian leaders spoke for more than an hour and a half and both expressed hopes for repairing relations between the countries.
In Kyiv, air defence systems and sirens sounded soon after the call.
FRANCE 24’s Catherine Norris-Trent had this report from the Ukrainian port city of Odesa.
Russia reports oil depot fire after Ukrainian drone attack
Russian officials say a fire broke out at an oil depot in the southwest due to debris from a neutralised Ukrainian drone attack.
“A fire broke out at an oil depot located near the village due to falling debris,” emergency services in the Krasnodar Krai administrative area said in a statement, adding that Kyiv’s drone attack “has been repelled”.
Zelensky accuses Russia of rejecting ceasefire as fresh strikes hit Ukraine
Ukraine has accused Russia of effectively rejecting a US-backed ceasefire proposal, reporting a barrage of strikes on civilian infrastructure hours after Moscow agreed to temporarily pause attacks on energy facilities.
Explosions rang out and air raid sirens wailed in Ukraine just hours after Trump and Putin spoke on the phone.
Zelensky said “there have been hits, specifically on civilian infrastructure”, including a hospital in Sumy.
“It is these types of nighttime attacks by Russia that destroy our energy sector, our infrastructure, and the normal life of Ukrainians,” Zelensky said. “Today, Putin effectively rejected the proposal for a full ceasefire.”
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Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of launching air attacks that sparked fires and damaged infrastructure, just hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to halt attacks on energy infrastructure for 30 days in a call with US President Donald Trump.
Russia and Ukraine are expected to exchange 175 prisoners of war each later today.
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