It is unclear if both Kyiv and Moscow intended to strike energy targets.
Still, despite the verbal agreement on the limited ceasefire by Putin, Ukrainians near the front line appear to have no faith in his word.
Outside of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, in a mobile command center that his team built, Ivan Kravchenko, a sergeant in the Reconnaissance Battalion of the 92nd Assault Brigade, told NBC News that “Russia wants to play its game and they are interested in the truce only in order to increase their military power.”
His unit commander, Leonid Maslov, who worked as a tax lawyer before the war, agreed.
“Putin is trying to deceive everybody because he thinks he is a master of spy games and deceit,” Maslov said, as he sat in front of a monitor a nearby safehouse, showing their operation in real time with a Russian mortar position being attacked by Ukrainian bombs.
“Nobody can trust him,” Maslov said of Putin.
Both said they thought Ukraine should be involved in the negotiations. “Putin will proceed with his aggression and Ukrainian people will not agree and will not surrender with that,” Maslov said. “Putin and Trump will sign an agreement, and after that the war starts again.”
However, the U.S. and Russia have hailed the call between their leaders. Trump described the nearly two-hour call with Putin as positive.
“Putin actually said to me, ‘if you’re my friend, I’d hate to see you as my enemy.’ He said that very strongly, but I had with all of that, I had a very good relationship with Putin,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News shortly after he spoke with his Russian counterpart.
The Kremlin also pointed out that U.S. alignment with Russia on a recent United Nations vote on Ukraine was already a “positive example” of their improving relations.
On the third anniversary of Russia’s war with Ukraine last month, the U.S. opposed a European-drafted resolution condemning Moscow’s actions and supporting Ukraine’s territorial integrity, and later drafted and voted for a resolution at the U.N. Security Council which called for an end to the conflict, but contained no criticism of Russia.
Richard Engel and Gabe Joselow reported from Kharkiv. Mithil Aggarwal reported from Hong Kong.
