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Kyiv, Moscow and a fragile energy truce
Summary
A look back at the days around 21 March 2025, when accusations over drone attacks shadowed US-brokered talks and Ukraine mourned its first post-Soviet prime minister.
What did the diplomacy around Ukraine look like on 21 March 2025? Reports from the preceding days show a process under strain, even as a ceasefire on energy infrastructure was supposed to be in place.
On 19 March 2025, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia was trying to discredit the peace negotiations led by US President Donald Trump. His remark followed overnight Russian drone attacks on Kyiv, launched after talks between the United States and Russia.
The same day, the Russian Ministry of Defence made a counter-accusation. It said Ukraine had violated the energy infrastructure ceasefire agreed by Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, citing a drone attack on an oil depot in Krasnodar Krai.
The two claims set out the dispute in plain terms: each side pointed to the other's drone strikes while the truce on energy targets was meant to hold.
A national loss
On 20 March 2025, Vitold Fokin died at the age of 92. He was the first prime minister of modern-day Ukraine. Zelenskyy mourned him, saying his death was a sense of loss for all Ukrainians.
By 21 March 2025, then, the picture combined a contested ceasefire, mutual allegations over drone attacks and a moment of national remembrance.
