Progress in achieving peace between Ukraine and Russia remains minimal following correspondence between the US and Russia. While Ukraine agreed to a 30-day ceasefire with Russia last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected a full and immediate ceasefire, merely agreeing to halt attacks on energy infrastructure following a phone call with US President Donald Trump on March 18. Hours after the phone call, the two countries had already accused each other of launching air attacks that caused fires and damaged infrastructure.
Putin expressed concerns that Ukraine could use the ceasefire as a chance to militarily mobilize and rearm, and that Ukraine seeks a ceasefire due to Russian forces gaining almost full control of the Kursk region. However, commentators have criticized Putin’s standards on the conditions for a ceasefire.
Dan Sabbagh, defence and security editor of the Guardian, points out that Russia’s main condition for resolving the conflict is, “the complete cessation of foreign military aid and the provision of intelligence information to Kyiv,” according to a statement by Russia made after the call between Putin and Trump. He notes that Ukraine cannot accept this as it has spent three years fighting and experiencing thousands of casualties to prevent a full takeover, and has still lost one fifth of its territory.
Prior to the phone call, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said that, “We will demand that ironclad security guarantees become part of this agreement,” in an interview with Russian media outlet Izvestia. Some of the guarantees that Russia demands include, he said, “…the neutral status of Ukraine, the refusal of NATO countries to accept it into the alliance.” Even though Britain and France have both said that they were willing to send a peacekeeping force to monitor any ceasefire in Ukraine, Grushko said that the deployment of unarmed post-conflict observers can only be discussed after a peace agreement is achieved.
These developments come after last week, in response to Ukraine agreeing to the ceasefire, the US has agreed to lift the pause on intelligence sharing, and resume security assistance to Ukraine. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week that the “ball is truly in their [Russia’s] court,” and that the US believes that peace negotiations are the only way to end the fighting. Trump, despite having had recent tensions with Zelensky, warned Russia that he would put additional sanctions on the country if it doesn’t accept the ceasefire.
Civilians on the ground are continuing to suffer. Earlier this month, Russian strikes killed at least 25 in Ukraine, and Ukraine’s largest ever drone attack on Moscow killed at least three employees of a meat warehouse and wounded 17 others.
Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelensky on March 4 said that Ukraine was ready to take steps toward peace if Russia would take them as well. Zelensky said in a post on X that the first stages of an end to the war could be, “…the release of prisoners and truce in the sky — ban on missiles, long-ranged drones, bombs on energy and other civilian infrastructure — and truce in the sea immediately, if Russia will do the same.”
Keywords: Ukraine, Russia, ceasefire, energy infrastructure, Putin, conflict, conflict resolution, peace, progress,
Tara Abhasakun
Tara Abhasakun is a journalist in Bangkok. She has reported on a range of human rights issues involving youth protests in Thailand, as well as arts and culture. Tara's work has appeared in several outlets, including Al Jazeera and South China Morning Post.
