World
Putin agrees to 30-day halt on energy facility strikes in Ukraine
The Kremlin said the conversation between Putin and Trump had been a “detailed and frank exchange of views.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to a proposal by U.S. President Donald Trump for Russia and Ukraine to stop attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure for 30 days and ordered the Russian military to cease them, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.
Russia has pounded Ukrainian energy installations and its electricity grid throughout the war, and Kyiv has responded with damaging strikes on refineries and fuel depots.
If implemented, Tuesday’s agreement would represent a genuine de-escalation in the three-year war. The Kremlin made no mention of Ukraine’s specific stance on the temporary halt in the targeting of energy infrastructure, but said Trump’s proposal had spoken of “a mutual refusal.”
The agreement fell short however of a wider agreement that the U.S. had sought, and which was accepted by Ukraine, for a blanket 30-day truce in the war.
“During the conversation, Donald Trump put forward a proposal for the parties to the conflict to mutually refrain from striking energy infrastructure facilities for 30 days. Vladimir Putin responded positively to this initiative and immediately gave the Russian military the corresponding command,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
On the proposed wider truce Putin reiterated concerns that he had raised last week, according to the Kremlin’s readout.
“The Russian side outlined a number of significant points regarding ensuring effective control over a possible ceasefire along the entire line of combat contact, the need to stop forced mobilisation in Ukraine, and the rearming of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” it said.
Putin also said that the key condition for resolving the conflict diplomatically should be “the complete cessation of foreign military assistance and provision of intelligence information to Kyiv”, the Kremlin added.
It said Putin had questioned Ukraine’s willingness to negotiate in good faith, and had accused it of carrying out “barbaric terrorist crimes” during a seven-month incursion into Russia’s western Kursk region.
Ukraine denies such atrocities, and similarly questions Russia’s trustworthiness and whether Moscow would respect any deal.
The Kremlin said the conversation between Putin and Trump had been a “detailed and frank exchange of views.”
It said Putin had underlined that a resolution of the conflict must be “comprehensive, sustainable and long-term” and take into account Russia’s own security interests and the root causes of the war.
Putin, it said, had also “responded constructively” to a Trump initiative on protecting shipping in the Black Sea and the two sides agreed to begin negotiations.
The Kremlin said that Russia and Ukraine would conduct another prisoner exchange on Wednesday, trading 175 people from each side.
Putin has said he wants Ukraine to drop its ambitions to join NATO, Russia to control the entirety of the four Ukrainian regions it has claimed as its own, and the size of the Ukrainian army to be limited.
He has also made clear he wants Western sanctions eased and a presidential election to be held in Ukraine, which Kyiv says is premature while martial law is in force.
World
Zelenskiy says letting Russia sell diesel to US is ‘investment in war’
“Gifts to Putin will not bring peace or any benefit to the civilised world,” Zelenskiy wrote on the X social media platform.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy criticised an accord on Friday between the US and Russia allowing Moscow to provide the US with diesel, calling it “an investment in a war that must be ended.”
He dismissed the accord, which was announced while a Ukrainian delegation was in the US to discuss how to seek a resolution of the war with Russia, as “a weak decision on the part of strong partners”.
“Gifts to Putin will not bring peace or any benefit to the civilised world,” Zelenskiy wrote on the X social media platform.
“Russia will ‘repay’ the diesel with further terror and perfidy. Allowing Russia to sell petroleum products is an investment in a war that must be ended, not prolonged. What is needed is real de-escalation with Russia on a reciprocal basis,” Zelenskiy said.
Trump said in a post on social media that he had agreed in a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin that Russia would immediately supply diesel to the US and global marketplace. Trump said lower prices for Americans “is my Greatest Priority”.
Zelenskiy, speaking to reporters later on WhatsApp, said the accord would provide Moscow with additional funds to wage war and undermine any attempts to work towards a settlement.
“I believe our team is simply being used as a front. And that is certainly not fair, nor is it how partners should treat each other,” he said. “In my view, it is a weak decision on the part of strong partners.”
The administration of US President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday, escalating tensions with the international judicial body and potentially straining relations with European allies.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the measures aim to prevent the ICC from prosecuting American citizens and restrict the court’s resources and operations.
Washington has criticised the ICC over arrest warrants issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials, as well as its past investigation into alleged crimes by US personnel in Afghanistan.
The ICC condemned the sanctions as an “assault on the rule of law” and vowed to continue its investigations and prosecutions. It also urged its 125 member states to defend the court’s independence.
The announcement came hours after former ICC judge Navi Pillay was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, with the Nobel committee highlighting the importance of international justice amid political pressure on legal institutions.
The sanctions threaten to deepen the dispute between Washington and the ICC, raising concerns about international judicial cooperation and the court’s ability to carry out its work.
South African jurist Navi Pillay, a former judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC), won the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for her efforts to promote peace and international law, as international justice institutions face growing political pressure.
The Nobel Committee announced the award hours before the United States imposed sanctions on the ICC, saying the recognition highlighted the importance of preserving an international order based on law and justice.
Pillay, 85, has served as a judge on several international courts, including the ICC and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. She also chaired a United Nations Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which concluded last year that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza. Israel rejected the report as “scandalous.”
The Nobel Committee warned that international law and its institutions were under significant pressure, cautioning that a shift towards power politics at the expense of legal frameworks threatened stability and peaceful coexistence.
The award comes amid escalating tensions between Washington and the ICC. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticised the court, particularly over its arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister.
Netanyahu’s office condemned the Nobel decision, accusing the committee of awarding its highest honour to someone it said had promoted allegations against Israel.
The award and the US sanctions have renewed international debate over the role of legal institutions in addressing alleged war crimes and protecting accountability under international law.
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