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Vladimir Putin committed in a phone call with Donald Trump to limit Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure for 30 days but declined to accept the broader ceasefire that the US sought.
The Russian and US presidents agreed that the two sides would begin negotiations on a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea as well as a “full ceasefire and permanent peace,” the White House said in a statement after the call ended. Those talks will begin “immediately” in the Middle East, the White House said, without saying who would lead the negotiations.
The Kremlin’s account of the call said Putin imposed several conditions for a lasting ceasefire, including the suspension of arms and intelligence support for Ukraine. Ukraine must also stop mobilizing new recruits, it said.
Bloomberg Washington Correspondents Joe Mathieu and Kailey Leinz deliver insight and analysis on the latest headlines from the White House and Capitol Hill, including conversations with influential lawmakers and key figures in politics and policy. On this edition, Joe and Kailey speak with:
- Bloomberg Politics Contributor Jeanne Sheehan Zaino and Republican Strategist Ashley Davis as US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin conclude their phone call Tuesday.
- Bloomberg News Correspondent Tyler Kendall from the White House as the US says work for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine will begin immediately.
- Bloomberg News National Security Reporter Dan Flatley as Putin agrees to limit attacks on Ukraine.
- Former Commanding General for US Army Europe Ben Hodges about the European reaction to talks between Trump and Putin.
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. You're listening to the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast. Catch us live weekdays at noon and five pm Eastern on Apple, Cocklay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business App. Listen on demand wherever you get your podcasts, or watch us live on YouTube.
The phone call that President Trump had with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier today, the readout from the White House has just hit. It reads in part today, President Trump and Putin spoke about the need for peace and he ceasefire in the Ukraine War. Both leaders agreed this conflict needs to end with the lasting piece. They also stressed the need for improved bilateral relations between the United States and Russia. Putin and Trump agreed to start talks on a Black Sea security agreement. Again, the need for a ceasefire and peace. But this is a little bit different in tone than what we're seeing out of the Kremlin side of things. According to IFx, the Kremlin said specifically that foreign weapons aid to Ukraine should end, though they do. According to the Kremlin, Putin backs the idea of not hitting energy objects for thirty days, keeping in mind to thirty day ceasefires what Ukraine and US officials outlined.
In Saudi Arabia. Yeah, this is the news here. You can read all you want about hopes for peace, about some of their posturing here, but the leaders agreed the movement will begin with an energy and infrastructure cease fire, technical negotiations on implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, leading to a full cease fire. The readout says these negotiations will begin immediately in the Middle East, presumably back to Saudi Arabia and Kaylee where this began.
Yeah, certainly, we've already seen two rounds of discussions held separately with Russian officials and Ukrainian officials, with the US at the table, and I guess the question becomes, is there a part a point at which all three parties come together these continue to be.
Done kind of well, that is a huge question here as they talk about again the Middle East as a region for potential cooperation to prevent future conflicts, going on to talk about maybe economic cooperation, but of course ending Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Kley is what this is supposed to be all about.
Yeah, so we want to add the voice of Ashley Davis in here as well. Ashley, Obviously, President Trump has made no secret of the fact that he wants to get a deal done. Is having an agreement for an energy oriented ceasefire for some period of time enough a victory for today.
I'm actually a little surprised. I mean, I'm reading this as you guys are. I would think that the President is probably a little bothered that he didn't get a complete ceasefire. But this is obviously the first step. I mean, what his big concentration has been on, at least publicly, has been the killing of human beings and soldiers in Ukraine, so that obviously has not happened in regards to stopping fighting. But some of the infrastructure that there can concerned about is at least starting at a ceasefire. So listen, is it sixty percent there? But listen, we're making progress. We didn't make progress for three years, so I mean, obviously the devil is in the details.
But what do you think, Genie, about what you're hearing right now? This is our first chance to take a glance at the readout. We'll probably hear more from the President at some point. As we've mentioned, we've got a rise on truth social but an energy and infrastructure cease fire. There's no mention of divvying up land, as Donald Trump suggested last weekend.
Yeah, I mean it suggests again. And I'm just like Ashley said, just still trying to read through what the little bits we're getting now. But it looks like they didn't discusch see all the important issue or couldn't come to an agreement on the land portion of this, And of course that has been an enormous concern of both Putin and the Russians and z Lenski and the Ukrainians. You know, talking is better than not talking. They seem to be making some progress, is to be believed, but just to put in there, Zelenski, the Ukrainians are deeply concerned that these pauses that Putin may or may not agree to are really just time for him to better position himself militarily ahead of resuming the fighting. And of course they are also concerned that their views on what should and should not happen are not being heated. And so you know, there's a long way to go. The problem with bilateral discussions between the US and Russia, the US and Ukraine is that this is really between Ukraine and Russia, and those two are not coming face to face yet to have these discussions. So I think we have a bit of a ways to go before we see a real concerted pause in the fighting.
Well, if we still have a ways to go, I wonder how ahead we seem to be getting on the US Russia relationship. As a headline from the Kremlin just cross that also discussed was cooperation and energy and on economic matters, Ashley, can we really get back to a more normal US Russia relationship without a full ceasefire, not just starting with energy and infrastructure.
I think this is what the fine line that the President's trying to walk, because if we're not going to give any more aid, which is obviously very unpopular in this country as a whole, then what will happen to Ukraine if we stop giving aid? I mean, will Europe step up? That's one question. However, and I've been saying this for a few weeks now. This is one chess move and a bigger match. I think that he is starting to build some sort of relationship with Putin. Keep your enemies close because the endgame is really China. China.
Putin as an enemy, because he doesn't often speak of him.
In those ways.
I think that this is a negotiation. I think that to isolate him and not have any discussions, I mean, and George Bush did the same thing, Obama did the same thing. To isolate him is probably not the way to go when you have bigger issues around the world. In regards to if China and Russia are allies together fighting the rest of the world in Iran and Iraq and North Korea, that's not good for America. So peeling off Putin, or at least minimizing Putin a little bit, can be helpful for that bigger geopolitical issue.
They spend almost as much time talking about the Middle East in this readout as they do Ukraine Genie. The leaders spoke broadly, according to the White House, about the Middle East as a region of potential cooperation to prevent future conflicts. Going on to write, the two leaders share the view that Iran should never be in a position to destroy Israel. Yesterday we spent a lot of time talking about a potential preemptive strike against Iran. Some of the hot talk that we've heard from President Trump with regard to their being able to access a nuclear weapon and essentially Tehran thumbing its nose at creating a new relationship with the US. What do you make of the inclusion of this line in a readout of a phone call about Ukraine.
I think this was critically important for the White House. They wanted to get this in here. I mean, we saw the attacks on the hoo Thies over the weekend. We know that they have been trying to approach Iran about their nuclear weapons. We know Iran is without defense right now, and of course isolating Iran and befriending Puhin would be a big coup for the White House. That said, what's fascinating too is to think about the juxtaposition Donald Trump. When it comes to Ukraine, he really wants peace at any cost, but when it comes to what's going on in the Gaza Strip, it is peace with a cost, and that is a big, big distinction, And you have to ask yourself why. I agree with Ashley he would like to pivot to China, but so far the administration has taken very few steps in that direction. Maybe we see that going forward.
Well.
And also, as Genie points out, the administration as a whole, we should consider the other characters in this than the President himself. Steve Whitcoff, for example, has a hand in both of these theaters. He was in Moscow, but he also has been actively involved in the Middle East that is actually technically what he was envoy for, whereas Keith Kellogg is no longer envoy for both Russia and Ukraine. It's just Ukraine only now. Who are going to be the decisive people to watch moving forward?
Ashley, I think the President. I also think the Vice President will continue to play a role. I mean, his role in this international theater has been very interesting. I also think the National Security Advisor, well, you know the Waltz, former Congressman Waltz from Florida. So I think there's many different dynamois. Obviously Secretuary Rubio there are going to be. But listen, I think Trump's this is something very personal to him, both the Middle East and Russia Ukraine. I think He's going to continue to stay very very involved.
All right, Ashley Davis and Jeanie Shanzo our political panel today, as we deal with this breaking news again the US and Russia. In this phone call between Trump and Putin deciding a ceasefire thirty day seasfire will begin with energy and infrastructure, though talks on a full Ukraine ceasefire will start immediately. According to the readout.
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So for more we go to the White House. We're joining us live as Bloomberg's Tyler Kendall. So, Tyler, obviously we have more information than we were working with some time ago. Is the White House framing this is a good thing for President Trump? Did he accomplish what he wanted to today?
Right, Kaylely. So far all we've gone in is this readout, But the White House did go into this meeting rather optimistic about the chances to come out with something tangible. Interestingly enough, as you've been discussing the statement, talking about how both sides agree that there needs to be a lasting piece, that already is raising questions about what that lasting piece will look like. Considering we know that Vladimir Putin is against putting peacekeepers on the ground in Ukraine, something that our European allies have been pushing for. Ukraine has been pushing for trying to get what sort of firmer security guarantees we could see from the White House. We also saw on this read out that they are stressing this renewal in bilateral relations after there really hasn't been much direct contact with Moscow in recent years. Of course, these direct talks are reversing what was a longstanding US policy not to negotiate directly with Russia. I mentioned earlier this hour that I had spoken to one foreign policy experts who said that this really is going to come down to a tight rope walk act for Russia, because the Kremlin does want to renew these bilateral relations with Washington as it seeks, for example, greater access to Western financial markets. And I wanted to pull out one quote that you guys have already mentioned, this idea that the leaders agreed to quote the movement to peace will begin with the energy and infrastructure ceasefire, as well as technical negotiations on the implementation of a maritime cecon. You'll recall this actually mirrors very closely. That peace plan that Zelensky had put forward to our European allies the day after that Oval Office meeting devolved here in Washington. Zelensky had floated that he wanted to first see a ceasefire in the sky and the sea, as he called it. It does appear that that message, at least so far, has gotten.
Through Tyler optics everything on a day like this at the White House. We haven't seen President Trump yet, and there's no indication on the guidance that we saw earlier that that would happen. Are we hearing anything about a news conference, a statement from Donald Trump or any of his surrogates who might be speaking more about this.
Well.
We are of course watching closely his Truth social platform, where he often comes out to give us his personal take on how the readout could go. Still on the schedule is a three point thirty pm Eastern Executive order signing. As of now, it remains closed press, but we'll have to see if that perhaps opens up, as these events typically do, for President Trump to come out and make this statement. We'll be watching closely all of the senior administration officials today. Earlier we heard, for example, from Treasury Secretary Scott Besson, who said that on the table was the potential for the US to ramp up sanctions. He said, they're currently at a level six. We could see them go up to as high as a level ten if that's what it takes to get Russia to the negotiating table. As of now, it appears that there has been forward movement, at least according to this US readout, So perhaps that is not the path forward that the US is going to have to take. But we're still watching closely what other concessions, with other ideas we can get out that this pair spoke about on the phone call.
Today, Bloomberg's Tyler Kendall live at the White House with the readout in hand, following President Trump's telephone call with Vladimir Putin more than an hour and a half long. Dan Flatley is back with US now in studio here in Washington, of course, covering national security for US at Bloomberg. Dan, last time we spoke, we didn't have any details. Now that we do, can either of these leaders claim a win?
It's a good question, Joe, you know, I think time will tell. We'll have to get some more details about what transpired behind the scenes. What we do know at this point is that there is this agreement we can call it on energy and electrical infrastructure for a certain period of time, an agreement to begin discussions on a maritime ceasefire and continuing peace negotiations in the Middle East.
So this keeps neighborhoods from being bombed though, right, Yeah.
I mean I think, look, I think it's probably a win in the general sense, in the human sense, as you point out that there will be less bombing, less killing for the foreseeable future, assuming that this holds. It doesn't address, of course, troops on the ground, It doesn't address territorial disputes, It doesn't address a number of the issues that the Ukrainians wanted to discuss, include security guarantees and things of that nature. It leaves putin the option to continue to press on a cessation of arms and materiel to Ukraine, supplies of that material by the US and other allies. So look, it's promising, one might say, in its bold strokes, but still a lot of details and implementation that has to come with this. So yeah, you know, hard.
To say, well, and is it safe to assume because Ukraine already had with the US agreed to a full ceasefire for thirty days, that they will be amenable to at least a ceasefire in these specific areas with which we're speaking about.
Yeah, that's a great question, Kayley, and I think that's something that we're going to be doing some reporting on to understand. You know, there is a potential scenario in which the call started, Trump or Putin presented their terms they couldn't agree to, let's say, I mean, I don't know, sort of speculating a little bit, but one could imagine that, you know, they may not have been able to come to terms on that thirty day ceasefire. They may have settled on something a little bit different. But again, energy and infrastructure is not a small thing. This has been a part of the Ukrainian grid network territory that has been targeted by Russia. The Ukrainians have targeted some Russian assets energy and infrastructure assets as well, and really this has been a war that in many respects has involved energy in a lot of different respects. The Russians make a lot of their money, if not you know, a majority of their money from selling energy into the West and now into India and China. The Ukrainians broker deals over the years to allow Russian energy to transit their territory in the hopes that it would prevent a war. So we're sort of back to energy and infrastructure at this moment, and so I think that that is kind of an interesting development, not one that we were expecting. Although Okayley, as you say, it does stop short of this thirty day complete cessation of hostilities that we.
Were beyond that.
Then this readout from the White House says the blood and treasure that both Ukraine and Russia have been spending in this war would be better spent on the needs of their people, Projecting to this idea of a full cease fire, that wouldn't have been the case if Russia had not invaded Ukraine and continue its occupation. That doesn't seem to be reflected in any of the language coming from the White House, league.
Right, Yeah, I mean it's not a small point, Joe. You know, if this deal had been negotiated under the previous administration, under the Biden administration, we may see a different framing of this whole discussion. That's been Trump's point that he's made a time and again all along. Then you have to talk, You have to have these negotiations in order to bring this flock to an end. So I wouldn't expect Trump to come out and say, you know, the illegal Russian occupation of Ukraine needs to end today, so on and so forth. He has not, in any of his previous statements previewed anything like that. So it's not unexpected for Trump. It's certainly unexpected. You know, if we go back to three years ago again, to where this all started, when Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelinsky addressed a joint session of Congress, and you had members of Congress pouring out of that auditorium talking about how inspired they were by the Ukrainian resistance to the Russian occupation, talking about how Zelensky as a hero, talking about the illegal occupation of Ukraine and all of that. You know, we're in a different place now. It's in some ways, three years is a very long time. It's a very long time in war, no matter how you cut it. But it's a very short period of time when you think about where we were three years ago and how much the rhetoric has changed. And you know, I think that politically, Trump has sees feels that he has a mandate to bring this war to an end on whatever terms he sees fit. And you know that's certainly been Vice President J. D Vance's perspective as well. And so here we are and we'll see how these negotiations play out in the Middle East. We'll try to learn some more details about how this call went down and what was discussed and how things may have changed. And I'm sure that there will be a lot more reporting to come about how this will be implemented and maybe some of the nuances that we don't know at this point how those will come into play. But I think for now, you know, if you're if you were looking at this call and waiting for the outcome very nervously, you know you probably are feeling maybe a little bit better than you might have initially. But I'm sure that there will be people that aren't happy with this, with this results for a number of reasons, and some of them good reasons too. So you know, obviously more to come.
Well, and it's interesting that we get this news after today, seeing what we saw in Europe and Germany specifically, where the parliament has essentially okayed. Now we'll full shift away from the policy of austerity and allowing a debt to be essentially not a factor when we consider defense spending. And it makes me wonder about the role Europe is going to play here, if they really have any part to play in these conversations that will be happening over thirty days and beyond, and how quickly Europe is actually able to get itself to a place in which they can provide a security backstop if we ultimately don't end up with a US guarantee on that.
Yeah, you know, this is history, but you know, since the end of the Cold War, really since the end of the Second World War, the US has been the security guarantee for Europe. So this is a huge sea change and for Germany to be leading the charge on this is notable. I think it was the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer that spoke with Trump ahead of the call and really impressed upon Trump the need for some type of security arrangement around this deal. We do expect the Europeans and the British to be involved in this. I think it's an open question of how involved they will be. It's going to be a different role for them than they've played, you know, in the past. But it's certainly I think that that again, we talked about this earlier, but the White House meeting between President Zelenski and President Trump and and Vice President Vance was I think, among other things, a major wake up call for Europe and they have decided that that they're going to have to play a bigger role in European defense. And again, you know, just to go back to Trump's campaign presidential campaign, this is something that he's talked about time and again. So you know, again it's it's and we talked about Israel and and Gaza earlier and how hard it is to keep these agreements together. So I still think there's a lot.
More to come on this, all right, certainly, so we appreciate you joining us on this breaking news. Bloomberg National security reporter Dan Flatley again the big headline here at the US and RuSHA. In this phone call between Presidents Trump and Putin agreed to a thirty day seasfire beginning with energy and infrastructure specifically, though talks for a wider ceasefire will begin immediately and take place in the Middle East.
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We want to get some more reaction now here on Bloomberg Television and Radio from General Ben Hodges, the former Commanding General of the United States Army Europe. General, Welcome back to balance of power. When we consider all of the ways in which this phone conversation could have gone, is this ultimately a good outcome the beginnings of at least a ceasefire in part.
Well, of course, I have to tell you I was expecting the worst. I was expecting that we were going to hear that the Resident had agreed to recognize Russian occupation of Crimea, agree to Russian demands for elections in Ukraine, and things like that. So the fact that we didn't hear those is is better than if we had. But we have to be very clear that I think Vladimir Putin has actually zero interest in any true long term settlement as long as he remains in power, and that his ultimate objective still remains the destruction of Ukraine. So I didn't hear or read anything about Russia backing away from their ultimate objectives. So we should be very clear about this.
So to that end, General, and it's great to have you back here as this news breaks today. If you're a member of the Ukrainian military, if you're a soldier or an airman deployed, you're waking up tomorrow morning to the very same world that you were in today. Correct, there's no cease fire when it comes to military. The battlefield will continue. Donald Trump talked about some of the Ukrainian forces surrounded by Russians that he was going to spare them. We didn't hear a reference to that in the readout today either. So the fighting continues well.
And you know, I'm sitting here, of course this is in the last few minutes, but I'm trying to digest a little bit. What does it mean. You're right, there's nothing that is better for any soldiers on the battlefield. And when we talk about energy and infrastructure, that sounds to me that Russia is acknowledging that Ukraine was hammering their oil and gas infrastructure, and so of course they want that to stop. Now. I'll be curious to see does that mean that Russia will also stop attacking Ukraine's power generation, for example, I will want to see that if that's really going to happen. And you know, I think that the fact that when the United States comes out of a call with Putin and says, oh, it's going to be a great relationship, Vladimir Putin is convicted in the International Criminal Court, so he is responsible for the depth of tens of thousands of innocent people. So I don't understand how the president of the United States, at least in normal times, would come out and say We're going to have a great relationship with the Russians.
Well, and especially when we look at the readout we got from the Russian side and what the Kremlin is saying. They specifically make reference to the idea that US aid flow to Ukraine should stop general. What would happen if the US were agreed to cut things off.
Well, I think there's two or three parts of this. Once again, all the demands, all the things that are being that have to ceize or stop, are those things that affect Ukraine negatively. I still to this day have not heard anything from the administration that says Russia must stop doing X y zen so I think that's uh, that's what I think about when I hear what you just pointed out, Kayley. Now, of course, you know the other part of this, the hubris of the US administration. Ukraine is not bound to any of this, Europe is not bound to any of this. And so if the United States makes the terrible decision to abandon a democratic country fighting for its survival against Russia, then Ukrainians are not going to stop, and Europe is going to have to fill in the gap. And you know, I'm here at a conference in Berlin right now. That's exactly what people are talking about, is how they're going to increase deliveries because this discussion between President Trump and President Putin has been done without meaningful European involvement or even Ukrainian involvement.
Well, with that said, you were commanding General US Army Europe. What are military leaders in our in European capitals? Are allies in Europe saying about this today? How worried should they be whether you're talking to leaders in Poland or Estonia.
Well, first of all, of course, we still have NATO, the most successful allized in history of the world. Yes, of course there's problems. There's concerns about American commitment, but the fact is so much progress has been made since really two thousand and fourteen to improve capabilities and structures and readiness of different nations. So we're in a better place than we were now, the alliance is than it was ten years ago. And particularly like I'm sure many of your listeners know, Joe, that Germany. Today the German parliament passed law that changes their entire budgeting system so that now they will be able to spend hundreds of billions of euro on defense. So this is not the same old Europe from just a few years ago, but they will in fact be able to provide much of what you Canukraine needs over time. And I think we the United States, we're going to regret having lost real influence in Europe because of that.
General.
We just have a minute left here, so I apologize that we have to keep it short. But what would you expect to hear from Ukrainian President vladimir's Lensky in reaction to this?
I think that President Jelenski will say nobody wants peace more than the Ukraine. This war started when Russia invaded Ukraine. Russia could end it tonight. They could if people really want peace, they could end it tonight. That's what the Ukrainians want. But the Ukrainians also know that you cannot accept the Russian version of peace because that means total subjugation of Ukrainian people and the destruction of the Ukrainian state.
General Ben Hodges, it's great to have you back with us, sir, and appreciate your jumping on the line with us with breaking news the call between President Trump and President Putin leading to a thirty day in structure and energy cease fire. Kaylee, we might still hear from the President later on today. Thanks for listening to the Balance of Power podcast. Make sure to subscribe if you haven't already, at Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, and you can find us live every weekday from Washington, DC at Noontimeeastern at Bloomberg dot com.
