Vladimir Putin has been accused of “playing a game” as he launched fresh attacks on Ukraine just hours after his call with Donald Trump.
The US president spoke to his Russian counterpart yesterday and supposedly persuaded him to agree to what the White House described as a 30-day “energy and infrastructure ceasefire”.
The Kremlin’s readout of the lengthy call summarised it slightly differently, dubbing it a “ceasefire on energy infrastructure”.
Overnight, Russia launched major hits on “civilian infrastructure” across Ukraine, according to the the country’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In a post on X at 10.11pm UK time on Tuesday, Zelenskyy said there had been “a direct hit by a ‘Shahed’ drone on a hospital in Sumy, strikes on cities in the Donetsk region, and attack drones currently in the skies over the Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Chernihiv, Poltava, Kharkiv, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk, and Cherkasy regions.”
He continued: “It is these types of nighttime attacks by Russia that destroy our energy sector, our infrastructure, and the normal life of Ukrainians.
“And the fact that this night is no exception shows that the pressure on Russia must continue for the sake of peace.”
Touching on the US-Russia negotiations, Zelenskyy criticised Moscow’s refusal to commit to a full 30-day ceasefire as Ukraine has – but stopped short of attacking the White House for its response.
He said: “Today, Putin effectively rejected the proposal for a full ceasefire.
“It would be right for the world to respond by rejecting any attempts by Putin to prolong the war. Sanctions against Russia. Assistance to Ukraine. Strengthening allies in the free world and working toward security guarantees.
“And only a real cessation of strikes on civilian infrastructure by Russia, as proof of its willingness to end this war, can bring peace closer.”
Russia has also accused Ukraine of going back on its agreement, saying its defence ministry destroyed 57 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Germany’s defence minister Boris Pistorius slammed Russia’s brutal strikes this morning, telling broadcasters: “Attack on civilian infrastructure in the first night after this supposedly pivotal and great phone call have not abated.
“Putin is playing a game here and I’m sure that the American president won’t be able to sit and watch for much younger.”
The EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters that Russia cannot be trusted, saying: “If you read the two readouts from the call, it is clear that... Russia does not really want to make any kind of concessions.”
When the UK’s work and pensions minister Stephen Timms was asked about the overnight strikes on LBC this morning, he admitted, “it’s not encouraging,” but said hopefully Russia would deliver the full ceasefire the US asked it for.
The UK government has positioned itself as a bridge between the States and Europe, hoping that it can hold onto Trump’s wavering support for Ukraine while shoring up the continent’s security amid Putin’s aggression.
Meanwhile, Trump is yet to comment on the fresh attacks.
He did promote his “very good and productive” call to Putin on his Truth Social account last night, writing that the process of ending the war “is now in full force and effect”, shortly before the new strikes began.
The US president has also not responded to speculation that Putin was an hour late to their phone call and even joked about his tardiness on stage with Russian oligarchs.
The US and Russian officials are set to hold further peace talks on Sunday in Saudi Arabia.