While Ukraine and Russia were exchanging the 175 captive soldiers that Putin committed to yesterday, one of the largest prisoner exchanges since the invasion began, Donald Trump called Volodimir Zelenski to convey everything said by Vladimir Putin the day before. Some of the prisoners released belonged to the Azovstal garrison and have been imprisoned for three years. Another 22 severely wounded soldiers are returning to Ukraine for medical treatment.
Prior to the call, Zelenskyy had joked about demanding that Russia "stop accepting weapons from Iran, China, and North Korea" to accept the ceasefire, which is exactly what Moscow demands from Kiev. But there was no irony when he stated that Ukraine did not intend to recognize any of the occupied territories as Russian regions.
"I had a great call with President Zelenskyy," Trump said on his social media. "It lasted about an hour, and much of the content was related to the call with President Putin to align the interests of Russia and Ukraine," commented the US president. He also stated that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Michael Waltz will make a statement on the agreed points, without Trump revealing any in his message.
The Ukrainian president received the call from Trump in Helsinki, where he was visiting. "I believe we will reach an agreement with President Trump, and our technical team will travel to Saudi Arabia. Hopefully, we will manage to pressure Putin and take the first step towards ending the war," Zelenski said.
It was also revealed on Wednesday that Trump has spoken "numerous times" with Putin in recent weeks without publicizing the calls. Therefore, yesterday's call was not the first or the only one.
The alleged energy ceasefire, which was not announced by either side, was also not respected by either. Immediately after hanging up the phone, Russia launched 150 drones and several missiles against Ukraine, destroying, among other targets, two hospitals, the Sloviansk power plant, and a railway junction. Russia denied firing any drones, and US negotiator Steve Witkoff, in a surreal response, stated in a televised interview that the Russians assured him that they themselves shot down seven of their drones as soon as they received Putin's order so that they would not reach their energy targets: "I tend to believe that President Putin is acting in good faith," he said. Ukraine reached the oil depots in Kropotkin, in Krasnodar.
Steve Witkoff himself announced that on March 23, another round of talks between the US and Russia will be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, but did not specify which Russian representatives the US delegation would meet with. "The devil is in the details. We have a team heading to Saudi Arabia, led by our National Security Advisor and Secretary of State. I believe we need to refine these details [regarding the ceasefire]," Witkoff said.
On Wednesday, the operation that Ukraine began in the Russian region of Belgorod, neighboring Kursk, continued, where an armored column managed to breach the defenses of the Demidovka - Grafovka district and advance a few kilometers to take some positions, but it is too early to assess whether they intend to stay in Russian territory, as they did in Kursk, or if it is just an operation to cut off the logistics of neighboring areas that supply the Vovchansk front.