Zelenskyy to speak with Trump after Russia defies Ukraine ceasefire
President Donald Trump, right, meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office at the White House, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/ Mystyslav Chernov)
US President Donald Trump has begun a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the White House has said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on Tuesday to stop attacking Ukrainian energy facilities temporarily but declined to endorse a full 30-day ceasefire that President Donald Trump hoped would be the first step toward a permanent peace deal.
Moscow and Kyiv accused each other on Wednesday of launching air attacks that damaged infrastructure just hours after their leaders agreed to a limited ceasefire to halt attacks on energy infrastructure.
Mr Zelenskyy, in a joint briefing in Helsinki with Finnish president Alexander Stubb, said Putin's words were not enough and that Ukraine would provide a list of energy facilities it hopes the US and allies would help monitor.
"Even last night, after Putin’s conversation with … Trump, when Putin said that he was allegedly giving orders to stop strikes on Ukrainian energy, there were 150 drones launched overnight, including on energy facilities," he said.
"I really want there to be control. But I believe that the main agent of this control should be the United States of America.
"If the Russians will not strike our facilities, then we will definitely not strike theirs."
Earlier, the White House meanwhile has described the call between Mr Trump and Mr Putin as the first step in a “movement to peace” that Washington hopes will include a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea and eventually a full and lasting end to the fighting.
But there was no indication that Mr Putin had backed away from his conditions for a prospective peace deal, which are fiercely opposed by Kyiv.
Mr Zelenskyy said that one of the most difficult issues in future negotiations would be the issue of territorial concessions.
“For us, the red line is the recognition of the Ukrainian temporarily occupied territories as Russian,” he said. “We will not go for it.”
Shortly after the lengthy phone call between Mr Trump and Mr Putin on Tuesday, air raid sirens sounded in Kyiv, followed by explosions as residents took shelter.
Despite efforts to repel the attack, Kyiv's air force said it destroyed 72 of 145 drones launched by Russia overnight on Wednesday, while Russia's defence ministry said its units downed 57 Ukrainian drones.
Separately, authorities in the Krasnodar region bordering the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, reported that a drone attack there started a fire at an oil depot.
