Trump’s talk with Putin shatters hopes for full ceasefire - Ukrainian MP

He shared his opinions with Espreso TV.

"I will try to speak frankly about Trump's conversation with Putin because our readers need to understand what’s really happening. It’s a complete failure of hopes that Putin would agree to a full ceasefire, which would have been the best outcome for Trump to start talks. Secretary of State Rubio also mentioned the need for a ceasefire to move forward with peace talks. Putin refused the ceasefire, meaning he also rejected further peace. It will be difficult to expect anything easy going forward. Putin didn’t agree to anything," said the Ukrainian MP.

According to him, Trump agreed to Putin's proposal because Russia has long insisted on an "energy ceasefire" in many international negotiations, as Russia is heavily dependent on it. Despite Russia causing damage by attacking Ukrainian energy infrastructure, it has not been able to destroy it. Meanwhile, Ukrainian drones, and later Long Neptune, have been very successful in striking Russian refineries, leading to an energy crisis in Russia.

"Ukrainians have never agreed to the 'energy ceasefire' that Russia has proposed many times. And now we haven't agreed to it either, though perhaps the U.S. president did, which is also unfortunate because it means negotiations about Ukraine are happening without Ukraine, agreeing to Russia's terms. Perhaps Trump didn’t know this. But the President of Ukraine certainly knows, had he participated in these talks. Regarding Trump's conversation with Putin, nothing else was agreed upon. Not even the 'soft' ceasefire proposed by the UK and France, which would have included full peace in the air and at sea. And last evening, Russian drones were attacking Ukrainian territory, meaning nothing has stopped. The situation is difficult, the war continues. But the fact that dialogue has begun is something we can only welcome, while the fact that it is happening without us is very bad," concluded Mykola Kniazhytskyi.

• On March 18, U.S. President Donald Trump held a phone conversation with Russian leader Vladimir Putin that lasted about two hours. According to both parties, they agreed on a limited stop in attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.