Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump get along well, trust each other and are determined to restore the severely damaged relations between the two countries step by step, Reuters and Agence France-Presse reported, citing a statement by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
After his conversation with Trump, the Russian leader agreed to temporarily halt attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities, but rejected a full 30-day ceasefire, which Trump had hoped would be a first step towards a permanent peace treaty.
The exact date and format of the next round of talks between the US and Russia will be agreed today and tomorrow, Peskov added. He stressed that the ceasefire only applies to the energy sector and no other infrastructure is protected, AFP notes.
US envoy Steve Witkoff had said that the ceasefire "applies to energy and infrastructure in general".
Today, the Kremlin accused Ukraine of going against Russian-American efforts to resolve the conflict. According to the Russian leadership, Kiev has not immediately complied with the cessation of strikes on energy facilities agreed upon by Trump and Putin.
"We note that there was no reciprocity on the part of the Kiev regime. Attempts were made to strike our energy infrastructure," Peskov said.
After the phone call, Russia stopped its strikes on energy infrastructure and shot down 7 of its own drones aimed at Ukraine while they were in the air, the Kremlin spokesman stressed. He added that the Russian president had not changed his order not to strike Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
Kiev had accused Moscow of striking Ukrainian energy, Reuters recalls.
The conversation between the two presidents lasted about 2 hours and was conducted with interpreters. The topics of deploying peacekeepers in Ukraine, resuming work on the "Nord Stream", changing power in Ukraine, EU participation in the negotiations or recognizing Ukrainian territories that Russia considers annexed were not discussed.
The issue of ending foreign military aid to Kiev was discussed, but this is a sensitive topic that "is not worth discussing publicly", Peskov noted.
Putin is ready for dialogue with the United States and Russia "sees reciprocity" from Trump. Between the presidents of the two countries "there has long been a direct telephone line", as well as a video link. "Biden just hardly used it", Peskov emphasized.