Aside from the phone call: The tangible results of Trump-Pudin’s ceasefire talk | World News

If Donald Trump expects Vladimir Putin to agree to an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine on a March 18 call, he doesn’t get what he hopes for. The conversation lasted for more than two hours, but Putin did not agree to stop the war altogether. Instead, he promised only smaller steps to reduce combat. These include halting attacks on Ukraine’s power plants and infrastructure, as well as conducting technical discussions to make it easier for ships to travel safely in the Black Sea.

The two leaders did talk about the possibility of building greater political consent in the future. Russians may be happy with their decision to hold a hockey game in both countries, as hockey is one of Putin’s favorite sports.
After the two leaders finished the phone, air strikes sirens in Kiev sounded, and missiles and drones attacked other cities. This shows how difficult the ceasefire agreement will be.

The specific goals are not immediately known. Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops launched several kilometers of assault attacks in Russia’s Belgorod province when they were driven out of a small area in Russia’s Kursk province.

Ukraine may be trying to create a buffer zone and strengthen its position in negotiations. Meanwhile, the Kremlin claims Ukraine is trying to influence negotiations in a negative way.

After the call, Russia issued a statement praising Mr. Trump’s willingness to stop the fight and prevent further loss of life.

The Kremlin announced that the two sides would exchange 175 captured soldiers. But what Mr. Putin seems to have provided enough to make Mr. Trump promise to end the Three Years’ War. Meanwhile, he may be trying to create tensions between the United States and Ukraine while continuing his goal of greater control over Ukraine.

Trump shared on social media that he had a “very good and productive” call. He described the agreement as the first step towards a full ceasefire and ended the terrible war.

The White House announced that subsequent talks will begin immediately in the Middle East. However, the Kremlin’s position on it is not clear. Russia said that to make the 30-day ceasefire work, Ukraine needs to stop recruiting soldiers and replenishing weapons, while the United States has to stop providing weapons and intelligence to Ukraine.

Russia has not said anything about stopping its own recruitment, slowing down its weapons production or ending the import of deadly weapons. It continues to obtain weapons from Iran and North Korea, as well as part of China that can be used to make them.

In order for peace to continue, any agreement should be strong, long-term, and address the main causes of conflict. Russia also insists that its security interests in the region must be protected.

This is Russia says Ukraine’s control over its decisions should be reduced, remain neutral, and, if possible, push NATO out of Eastern Europe (Poland, Romania and Baltic countries).

President Putin stressed the need for “Ukrainian reconciliation through direct negotiations”, which seemed to indicate that he hoped the issue would be decided primarily between Russia and the United States without much comment on this issue.

President Trump and President Putin hope to improve relations between their countries. According to the White House, they talked about the Middle East, ways to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and agreed that Iran should never threaten Israel’s existence.

They noted that improving relations between the United States and Russia could bring significant economic benefits. The Kremlin mentioned that leaders discussed similar topics but did not specifically talk about Iran and Israel. It also stressed that both countries have a key role in maintaining global security and stability.

It also talks about joint economic efforts, especially in the energy sector.

President Zelensky has been supporting the cessation of attacks on energy facilities as Russia has been using drones and missiles to damage Ukraine’s electricity supply. However, recently, Ukraine has fought back by successfully using drones to attack Russian fuel storage sites and refineries.

Last week, Ukraine used an upgraded version of its Neptune Cruise missile, which was originally designed to target target ships. This new version can reach up to 1,000 km. It was reportedly used to destroy an oil refinery in the city of Tuapse, about 480 kilometers away from the battlefield.

For some in Ukraine, it is difficult to accept the idea of ​​a partial ceasefire. An intelligence source pointed out that Ukraine has been successfully hitting Russian oil refineries, but now there is a topic of stopping such attacks. At the same time, Russia continues to develop slowly on the battlefield.

Despite its flaws, the deal shows that politics can quickly change the situation in the war. Earlier, President Biden promised to support Ukraine as needed. But Trump’s administration believes that a prolonged war is wrong and also cares about the dangers of nuclear conflict.

The president strongly criticized how much damage the war has caused to American taxpayers. He also refused to assure Ukraine that any security protections as part of the peace agreement. Instead, he pushed for a deal where the United States and Ukraine would share Ukrainian mineral profits to repay past support.

Like President Putin, President Trump seems to see the world as being controlled by several powerful countries, each with its own field of influence. This idea has concerns European countries and prompts them to strengthen their support for Ukraine and strengthen their own defenses.

Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal shared on social media that Estonia increased its defense budget to 5% of its GDP before the U.S. and Russian presidents began calling. Meanwhile, Britain and France are leading the plan to “rest assured” forces. Once a permanent ceasefire is established to help maintain stability, the force will enter Ukraine.

On March 18, Poland and the three Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) announced that they would no longer follow the Ottawa General Assembly, which prohibited the use of anti-person landmines. The Baltic countries are three small countries in Northern Europe, located near Russia. These countries believe that withdrawal from the treaty will help them strengthen their defensive capabilities.

The German parliament, known as the federal government, has decided to simplify its strict debt rules so that the country can spend more on defense. According to economists, lawmakers have also approved a plan to build a 500 billion euro ($550 billion) fund to improve infrastructure. This means that Germany is making major financial changes to strengthen its military and upgrade its roads, bridges and other important facilities.

President Putin said he was unwilling to be peaceful. Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal wrote in his post that Russia still has the same goal and desire to expand power. He warned that this is a serious danger to Europe and NATO, which helps protect many countries from threats.

(Girish Linganna is a defense and aerospace analyst based in Bangalore. He is also the Director of Add Engineering Components, India, Pvt. Ltd, Add Engineering GmbH, Germany. The views expressed in this article are only the author’s views.)