Russia is 'Not Backing Away' From Ukraine Objectives: Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges

Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges reacts to new details from talks between President Trump and Russian President Putin including an agreement to limit attacks on energy infrastructure and the potential for further negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin committed in a phone call with Donald Trump to limit Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure for 30 days but declined to accept the broader ceasefire that the US sought.

The Russian and US presidents agreed that the two sides would begin negotiations on a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea as well as a “full ceasefire and permanent peace,” the White House said in a statement after the call ended. Those talks will begin “immediately” in the Middle East, the White House said, without saying who would lead the negotiations.

The Kremlin’s account of the call said Putin imposed several conditions for a lasting ceasefire, including the suspension of arms and intelligence support for Ukraine. Ukraine must also stop mobilizing new recruits, it said.

The Russian position falls well short of the Trump administration’s demand for a total halt to the fighting for 30 days so the sides can hammer out a longer-term agreement. Russia’s conditions didn’t even go as far as a Ukrainian offer earlier this month to halt air and sea attacks, a proposal that the US rejected as insufficient.

The US and Russian readouts of the call also had a possibly crucial discrepancy. The US readout said Trump and Putin agreed to an “energy and infrastructure” ceasefire, suggesting Russia wouldn’t target energy assets or structures such as bridges or roads. But Russia’s version of the call described their agreement as only pausing attacks on “energy infrastructure.”

Either way, the Russian position will force a tough choice on Trump, who must decide whether to continue sending weapons to Ukraine so President Volodymyr Zelenskiy can protect against Russia’s invasion, now in its fourth year.

“Russia’s goal for the talks is to put themselves in a better position to win the war and end a democratic Ukraine — that remains unchanged,” said Max Bergmann, a former US State Department official now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Recent comments by Trump have prompted fears in Ukraine and among its European supporters that the US may be willing to sacrifice Kyiv’s interests as part of a push for a deal. Before the call, Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that “many elements of a Final Agreement have been agreed to, but much remains.”

Ukraine and its allies are anxious that Russia won’t honor any deal with Trump to end the war, leaving Kyiv vulnerable to attack in the future. After Trump came to office having pledged to end the conflict rapidly, they also worry that Putin may leverage US interest in securing a deal to make additional demands that would undermine Ukraine or threaten Europe’s future security.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke to Trump ahead of the US leader’s conversation with Putin. Starmer told Trump that Ukraine must be put in the “strongest possible position” in order to secure a “just and lasting peace,” his spokesman said.

The readouts also underscored how Trump and Putin see improving US-Russia relations as a top priority separate from the talks. Russia said Trump backed Putin’s idea to organize matches between players in the two countries’ professional hockey leagues. The US readout said better US-Russia ties have “huge upside.”

“Russia is buying time here,” said Liana Fix, a fellow for Europe at the Council on Foreign Relations.

“This very much fits into a logic that US-Russia talks are about a normalization of the US-Russia relationship, which the Russian side likes to push ahead with, while at the same time downgrading the resolution of Ukraine,” Fix said.

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