Zelensky Accuses Attacks in Ukraine After Trump-Putin Truce

By Romania Journal Last updated Mar 19, 2025

Get real time updates directly on you device, subscribe now.

President Volodymyr Zelensky accuses Russia of “directly” attacking a hospital in northern Ukraine with a drone, launching several bombings “against civilian infrastructure” in Kiev and Sumy, reports AFP.

Zelensky noted that the attacks took place after the telephone conversation between Trump and Putin, who announced that they had agreed that Russia and Ukraine should stop attacks on energy infrastructure.

“These nightly attacks by Russia are the ones that are destroying our energy, infrastructure and normal life in Ukraine. And the fact that this night was no exception shows that we must exert pressure on Russia for the sake of peace,” said Volodymyr Zelensky, according to the quoted source.

The Ukrainian president, however, does not accuse any direct attack on Ukrainian energy structures. Also on Tuesday night into Wednesday, after the telephone conversation between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that the Russian military had intercepted and destroyed 57 Ukrainian drones.

Thirty-five drones were destroyed over the Kursk border region, and others over the Orel, Tula, Bryansk and Azov regions, the ministry announced on Telegram.

The White House confirmed on Tuesday evening that Russia had agreed to a limited 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine’s energy and infrastructure sector as part of a US-led initiative to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, The Guardian and Sky News report. The two leaders agreed that negotiations for a full ceasefire and a peace deal should begin immediately, but the Kremlin later said President Putin had more conditions.

The Kremlin’s official statement, in Russian, later released, is more extensive and provides a glimpse into Putin’s arguments, as well as a long list of conditions and demands, according to The Guardian.

According to the Kremlin’s version, the Russian side “underlined a number of significant points” that require further analysis, including on “effective control” over any ceasefire along the conflict line and Russia’s demand to stop the mobilization of Ukrainians and the rearmament of its armed forces, along with its broader demand to “eliminate the root causes of the crisis.”

In a first reaction after the two presidents’ conversation, Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that Ukraine would support the US proposal to stop attacks on Russian energy infrastructure and said he hoped to speak to US leader Donald Trump about his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Reuters reports.

“I think it will be right to have a conversation with President Trump and we will know in detail what the Russians offered to the Americans or what the Americans offered to the Russians,” Zelensky told reporters during an online briefing. “Both sides, Ukraine and Russia, are capable of not bombing energy infrastructure. Our side will support this,” Zelensky added.

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone for more than an hour and a half on Tuesday, with Washington hoping to persuade Moscow to accept a 30-day ceasefire that could lead to a permanent peace deal.

The Russian president agreed that Russia and Ukraine would cease attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure for 30 days and gave an order to the Russian military to do so, the Kremlin said, according to Reuters.

The two leaders had a “detailed and frank exchange of views” on Ukraine, with Putin stressing in his call with Trump that a resolution to the conflict must be “comprehensive, sustainable and long-term.” The Kremlin said the talks would take into account Russia’s security interests and the root causes of the war in Ukraine.

They discussed the US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire, accepted by Ukraine last week, and Vladimir Putin “stressed that a key condition for preventing the escalation of the conflict and working towards its resolution through political and diplomatic means must be the complete cessation of foreign military assistance and the provision of intelligence to Kiev,” the Kremlin said.

The White House, in turn, said in a press release that the two leaders agreed that “efforts to conclude peace will begin with a cessation of attacks on energy infrastructure, as well as technical negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire in the Black Sea and for a complete ceasefire and permanent peace.”

DONATE: Support our work

In an ever changing and challenging world, the media is constantly struggling to resist. Romania Journal makes no exception. We’ve been informing you, our readers, for almost 10 years, as extensively as we can, but, as we reject any state funding and private advertising is scarce, we need your help to keep on going.
So, if you enjoy our work, you can contribute to endorse the Romania Journal team. Any amount is welcome, no strings attached. Choose to join with one of the following options:

Donate with PayPal

Donate by Bank Wire

Black Zonure SRL
UniCredit Bank. Swift: BACXROBU
RON: RO84 BACX 0000 0022 3589 1000
EURO: RO57 BACX 0000 0022 3589 1001
USD: RO30 BACX 0000 0022 3589 1002