Russian leader has played his familiar trick of agreeing to something that binds Ukraine’s hands much more tightly than his own
Chief Foreign Affairs Commentator
18 March 2025
Donald Trump’s ambition to “stop the killing” and secure a ceasefire in Ukraine has collided once again with the intransigence of Vladimir Putin. Yet, astonishingly, the American president seems not to have noticed.
Last week, he told Ukraine’s leadership that they would never receive another US weapon or intelligence report unless they agreed in principle to a 30-day ceasefire. So they did.
Immediately afterwards, Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, declared that the ball was now in “Russia’s court”.
Putin’s 90-minute phone call with Mr Trump on Tuesday was the moment when the ball should have been returned. But the main public outcome was Putin’s rejection of a full ceasefire and agreement only to halt attacks on “energy and infrastructure”.
How did Mr Trump react? The White House could have announced that America would now give Russia a taste of the treatment meted out to Ukraine and muscle Putin into stopping the killing.
Instead, the US “readout” of the call contains not a hint of pressure; on the contrary, it talks enthusiastically of how an “improved bilateral relationship between the US and Russia has a huge upside” including “enormous economic deals and geopolitical stability”.
The conclusion is obvious: Putin has once again defied a public demand from Mr Trump – this time for a full ceasefire – and paid no price.
Thin gruel for the West
Even Putin’s agreement to stop attacking energy infrastructure amounts to less than might be thought.
Ukrainian long-range drone strikes on oil refineries and other assets deep inside Russia have probably inflicted more damage in recent weeks than the Kremlin’s barrage of missiles in the other direction.
Putin has played his familiar trick of agreeing to something that binds Ukraine’s hands much more tightly than his own.
But the relative lack of substance in the readout must itself raise suspicions.
Two presidents do not need to talk for 90 minutes to serve up the thin gruel in the public account of their call.
What else did Mr Trump and Putin discuss and what private agreements might they have made?
Ukraine and the rest of Europe are not party to these talks: they can only guess at what could be happening behind the scenes.
The only certainty is that the dismal pattern whereby Putin concedes nothing and offers nothing, while Trump declines to respond with any hint of steel, remains the order of the day.
Comment from :
David Moss
Far too early to say Putin’s defiance of Trump will go without penalty.
Callum Webb
We’re now at the point where it’s no longer possible to give Trump any benefit of the doubt:
Trump is either dumb as a sack of rocks and hasn’t got a clue what he’s doing… or he’s completely subservient to this foreign dictator.
Donald Pump
How long before the penny drops at the Telegraph? Trump is a corrupt clown destroying everything he touches.
Wim Kotze
Trump 2.0 (which I was optimistically looking forward to) is a disappointment.
The thinking was that although he was brash, narcissistic, and not very literal with the truth, that he made up for it for appreciating business on saving the economy, for being an effective negotiator, for being a peacemaker.
So far he has failed on all those three. He is a wrecking ball on the US and world economy, he shows no signs of being an effective negotiator, and he is hinting at armed incursions himself, while to date failing to have secured any progress in Ukraine and moving backwards on Gaza. He is looking very weak against Putin, which is unexpected, as Russia’s war effort so far has been laughable.
Brian Hunter
The real worry is what they discussed for the other 70 minutes, which has not been recorded! Trump is knowingly or unknowingly a Russian asset. My money is on the former.
Peter Kitson
Trump has assumed the mantle of sole negotiator and is willingly allowing himself to be played like a fiddle by Poo Tin.
This is nothing more than a carve up equivalent to Hitler and Stalin carving up Poland in 1939.
Ima Claret
Trump is a fool who thinks he is a genius. Putin must be laughing his head off. He will carry on with the war until he has annexed Ukraine and moves on to another country as he is determined to restore the old Soviet Union. Why didn’t Trump threaten sanctions on Russia’s oil? He is like all weak men, he bullies powerless opponents (Ukraine) and then caves against stronger, more devious enemies. At least they agreed to an ice hockey game!
lynne de challans
Putin is the chess master here .He is having a good old laugh after he makes his next move whilst the US is playing dot to dot .Reality check needed .Putin is a despot , psychopathic murderer but he is clever .He will give away nothing .You are being played like an old fiddle and it breaks my heart to say it .It’s like watching your favourite dog slowly die before your eyes and you can do nothing .The US in the eyes of the rest of the world has lost its shine I’m afraid to say .
Yura Morrone
Trump is a gimp. Or more accurately, Trump is Putin’s gimp.
Charles Leach
The EU need to stop all purchases of Russian oil this week regardless of the cost. They also need to help Ukraine blow up the fleet of sanction busting oil tankers selling it to everyone else. Preferably in or close to Russian ports so nobody can get in or out. Ally that with convincing Saudi to flood the oil market. Pressure Russia to turn on the printing presses and seed independence movements in all the Russian federal republics. There is plenty we can do without the Donald. Dump Trump.
The Art of the Deal must be a comic book. Trump doesn’t have the intellect for more than that.
Let’s see what happens when Ukraine destroy the next oil refinery. As I see it, putler didn’t agree to any ceasefire, so it’s game on.