Vladimir Putin took advantage of his telephone conversation with Donald Trump on Tuesday to say that Russia could be playing with the United States, literally.
Putin talked about ice hockey, but it was also a reference to Trump’s efforts to get a quick fire in Ukrainewhose government fears that the US president accepts important concessions required by the Kremlin to seal a truce.
The Russian president, who plays ice hockey with a nearby circle of allies and advisors, suggested the idea of organizing matches between US and Russian players, according to Kremlin, who claimed to have Trump’s support. This is because both Kremlin and the White House reported the call between Trump and Putin, emphasizing the economic and political cooperation potential.
The “full legitimation of cooperation” between the United States and Russia in international issues, even in the Middle East, was the most important result of the callSaid Tatiana Stanovaya, principal researcher at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Telegram.
Putin took relations with the United States “from the direct dependence of the Ukrainian conflict” and turned Trump’s truce in his favor in his favorwhile the offer to celebrate hockey parties helped Russia’s “detoxification”, he said.
Russian President’s rejection of Trump’s request for a ceasefire of 30 days is a setback for US efforts to end the war that lasts three yearseven when both parties agreed to continue the negotiations.
Putin’s demand to stop foreign military aid and the exchange of intelligence with Ukraine as a “key condition” to advance Diplomacy runs the risk of opening a gap between the United States and Europe on support to kyiv, While the Russian forces continue to fight on the battlefield.
The Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenski, told reporters during a visit to Finland that he will talk to Trump later on Wednesday to discuss the conversation of the US leader with Putin.
After Putin agreed to stop the attacks on energy infrastructure as his only concession to the demand of a trucIEV and other parts of Ukraine were subject to a massive attack with Russian drones during the night.
The attacks “After this fantastic telephone call, apparently historical,” they show that Russia has not ceased in its attacks on Ukrainian civil infrastructure, German defense minister, Boris Pistorius, to the ZDF television network, declared on Wednesday. “Putin is playing a game and I am sure that the US president will not be able to stay with a crossed -eyed for a long time,” he said.
Drones attacks showed that “we must continue pressing Russia,” Zelenskiy said on Telegram. The world should “reject any attempted Putin to prolong war,” he added.
The call demonstrated to Trump that Putin is blocking peace and increases the probability that he begins to exert pressure on Russia, according to a senior western official who asked not to be identified when talking about politics. While there is a danger that Trump tries to impose the demands of Putin to Ukraine, the United States allies in the group of seven must persuade him to focus on pressing Russia, the official said.
The conversations made it clear that “We are far away from the high fire that Spain and Europeans want and that is why we will continue to support President Zelenskiy and the Ukrainian people”said Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares, to the National Public Radio of Spain on Wednesday.
Even the main concession of the Kremlin offers advantages to Putin, since Ukrainian drones have attacked refineries, pipelines and Russian energy infrastructure almost daily in an attempt to undermine the Moscow war economy. The Russian attacks against the electricity grid and the Ukraine gas facilities have decreased as winter has given way to the warmest climate of spring.
If both parties agree to refrain from attacking the energy infrastructure, this will benefit the Russian oil sector, which is initiating regular spring repairs. The country’s refineries will maintain greater operational capacity in the absence of drone attacks, which will make the national fuel supply and exports more predictable.
“Trump is playing background with the Russian Russian to establish serious peace negotiations,” said Maria Snegovaya, principal researcher of the European Program, Russia and Eurasia of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, based in Washington. Meanwhile, Putin can offer Trump “some attractive joint development agreement” in exchange for a partial lifting of the sanctions, he added.
Trump wrote in his social truth account that numerous elements of a peace contract were discussed with Putin and that they would work quickly to negotiate a high fire. His envoy, Steve Witkoff, told Fox News that an American delegation would travel to Saudi Arabia to continue conversations.
The truce in the energy infrastructure will not affect war and, obviously, the fighting will continue with the same intensity, said Igor Korotchenko, Russian defense analyst. Kremlin’s demands will be discussed in conversations between American and Russian officials, Ria Novosti told the news agency.
Ukraine and Europe are at risk of being outside those conversations. The Kremlin statement indicates that Putin and Trump “confirmed their intention to continue efforts to achieve a bilateral agreement in Ukraine.”
The White House also said that Trump and Putin “emphasized the need to improve bilateral relations,” noting that they had discussed cooperation to prevent conflicts in the Middle East and the need to stop the proliferation of strategic weapons.
The improvement of relations between the United States and Russia has great potential, said White House Press, Karoline Leavitt, in a statement. “This includes important economic agreements and geopolitical stability once peace is achieved.”
