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Energy ceasefire strained days after Trump–Putin call
Summary
A look back at 24 March 2025 and the accusations that surrounded the energy infrastructure ceasefire agreed days earlier.
What was left of the energy infrastructure ceasefire by 24 March 2025? Days after it was agreed, both Moscow and Kyiv were already trading accusations that the other side was undermining it, and the peace effort around it.
The call
On 18 March 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed by phone to an immediate ceasefire on energy infrastructure in Ukraine. They also agreed that further negotiations on a permanent settlement would begin immediately. Putin stated that ending all foreign military and intelligence support to Ukraine would be one condition of such a settlement.
Accusations on both sides
The Russian Ministry of Defense said on 18 March that Ukrainian forces had attempted an offensive on Belgorod Oblast with five assaults before Russian forces stopped them. It characterised the alleged attacks as an attempt to discredit Trump's peace negotiations.
On 19 March, the ministry went further, saying Ukraine had violated the energy ceasefire by launching a drone attack on an oil depot in Krasnodar Krai.
The same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a similar charge in the opposite direction. He said Russia was trying to discredit Trump's peace negotiations, after Russian forces launched drone attacks on Kyiv overnight following talks between the U.S. and Russia.
A moment of mourning
The political mood in Kyiv was also marked by a death. On 20 March, Vitold Fokin, the first prime minister of modern-day Ukraine, died aged 92. Zelenskyy mourned him, describing a sense of loss for all Ukrainians.
Where things stood
By 24 March 2025, then, the picture was one of a ceasefire announced at the top and contested on the ground. Each government cast the other as the one endangering the American-led talks. The agreement reached on 18 March promised rapid negotiations toward a lasting settlement, but the exchanges of claims over Belgorod, Krasnodar Krai and the drone strikes on Kyiv showed how quickly the arrangement had come under strain.
