Troops launched the attack as Russia has approved a 30-day ceasefire deal with Ukraine – marking the first break in fighting since Vladimir Putin’s invasion of the country over three years ago
Ukrainian soldiers staged a surprise raid in Russia as part of a sneak attack during Vladimir Putin’s phone call with Donald Trump.
Troops are said to have attacked Russia’s Belgorod province, south of Kursk, as the two leaders spoke on the phone this afternoon. The operation – reportedly several weeks in the making – aimed to create a “buffer zone”, and follows Vladimir Putin’s extraordinary agreement to a 30-day ceasefire with Ukraine. A source speaking to The Economist revealed the attack reportedly punctured several kilometres inside Russia as Putin and Mr Trump held critical discussions over the phone.
Putin, who had previously threatened to create a buffer zone in Ukraine, has crucially agreed to halt strikes on specific targets inside the country, the Trump administration has revealed. Once that has been observed, the two leaders have agreed negotiations “will begin immediately in the Middle East” as the countries work to build on “dipolmatic relations”.
In a statement following the call this afternoon, Karoline Leavitt, Mr Trump’s press secretary, said: “Today, President Trump and President Putin spoke about the need for peace and a ceasefire in the Ukraine war. Both leaders agreed this conflict needs to end with a lasting peace. They also stressed the need for improved bilateral relations between the United States and Russia.
“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. This conflict should never have started and should have been ended long ago with sincere and good faith peace efforts. The leaders agreed that the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire, as well as technical negotiations on implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace.
“These negotiations will begin immediately in the Middle East. The leaders spoke broadly about the Middle East as a region of potential cooperation to prevent future conflicts. They further discussed the need to stop proliferation of strategic weapons and will engage with others to ensure the broadest possible application.”
“The two leaders shared the view that Iran should never be in a position to destroy Israel. The two leaders agreed that a future with an improved bilateral relationship between the United States and Russia has huge upside. This includes enormous economic deals and geopolitical stability when peace has been achieved.”
But Vladimir Putin said he would not sign the agreement until it removed “the root causes of this crisis”, stating there were “questions” and “nuances” that would need to be discussed before an agreement could be reached. Kremlin officials had meanwhile stated that they would not accept NATO membership for Ukraine, and had sought the end of international sanctions against their country, as well as a recognition of occupied territories in Ukraine as ‘Russian’.
The Kremlin’s Russian version of the readout issued by Ms Leavitt mentions a series of demands Russia made for the 30-day ceasefire to be signed. They include stops on all military aid from the US and any other ally, and the end of intelligence sharing, effectively crippling Ukraine’s ability to predict future Russian attacks.
The phone call between Trump and Putin was set up after White House envoy Steve Witkoff met with the Russian president last Thursday to discuss the proposal behind closed doors. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Putin passed on “signals” for Witkoff to deliver directly to Trump, though it was not specified what these were.
The White House embarked on a campaign of surprising foreign policy moves in the days after a previous 40-minute call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in February, designed to push Ukraine into accepting a deal. Most memorably, the US president berated Volodomyr Zelensky in front of the world’s cameras in the Oval Office, and later withdrew vital military aid and intelligence sharing before reinstating it a few days later.
In January, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said a total of 12,605 civilians had been killed in Ukraine since the first day of the invasion on February 24, 2022, while around 70,000 to 80,000 Ukrainian soldiers are estimated to have died. The Russian military has meanwhile recorded over 700,000 casualties since the start of the war, according to the most recent figures from the British Ministry of Defence.
Fighting has intensified over recent days amid talks of a ceasefire deal, as Russia attempts to gain as much territory as possible. Russian ballistic missiles killed at least five civilians last Wednesday, Ukrainian officials said, while Putin’s forces have also made renewed efforts to repel Ukrainian forces from the Kursk region.
Ukrainian forces made a shock incursion into Kursk last August, the first foreign occupation of Russian territory since World War II, and have held on since despite intense pressure from tens of thousands of Russian and North Korean troops. Last Wednesday, Russian state news agencies RIA Novosti and Tass reported that the Russian military had recaptured the key operational town of Sudzha, though this has not been independently verified.