Russia and Ukraine trade fire just hours after 'deal' with Trump to draw down on strikes

Negotiations on ceasefire will begin 'immediately' in the Middle East, White House says

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. AFP

Russia and Ukraine accused each other early on Wednesday of launching air attacks that led to fires and damaged infrastructure just hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed with US President Donald Trump to work towards a limited ceasefire.

“Russia is attacking civilian infrastructure and people – right now,” Andriy Yermak, chief of staff for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said overnight on Telegram.

Regional authorities in Sumy in north-east Ukraine said Russia's drone attacks damaged two hospitals, causing no injuries but forcing the evacuation of patients and hospital staff.

A 60-year-old man was injured and several houses damaged in a Russian drone attack on the Kyiv region that surrounds the Ukrainian capital, Mykola Kalashnyk, governor of the region, said early on Wednesday.

Mr Zelenskyy said Russia had launched more than 40 drones against Ukraine.

In Russia, authorities in the southern region of Krasnodar said a Ukrainian drone attack caused a small fire at an oil depot near the village of Kavkazskaya.

No one was injured in the fire but 30 employees were evacuated, the administration of the southern Russian region said in a post on Telegram.

To mark the third year of the Ukraine-Russia war, The National looks back at some of the striking images captured during the conflict. Getty Images

Ukrainians working at the site of a rocket strike on the 'Okhmadyt' children's hospital in Kyiv in 2024. EPA

A woman walks past a memorial wall dedicated to fallen defenders of Ukraine in downtown Kyiv in 2024. EPA

A damaged town sign in Orikhiv, near the frontline in the Zaporizhzhia region, in 2024. EPA

Gravediggers prepare the burial site for victims of a Russian missile strike in Hroza in 2023. Getty Images

Widow Lubov Doroshenko, 67, returns to her destroyed home in 2023 in Bohorodychne. Getty Images

A Ukrainian serviceman of the 24 Separate Mechanized Brigade fires a mortar towards Russian positions, at an undisclosed location in the Donetsk region in 2023. EPA

Emergency workers search the remains of a residential building that was struck by a Russian missile in Dnipro in 2023. Getty Images

Ukrainian national flags waving over the graves of fallen Ukrainian soldiers in a military cemetery in Kharkiv in 2023. EPA

A woman walks by destroyed buildings 20 miles west from the front lines of fighting in the Donetsk Region in 2023. Getty Images

A view taken through the broken glass of a window overlooking the site of a damaged residential building in Dnipro in 2023. EPA

Numbers mark the graves of unidentified people killed during fighting at the cemetery in Mariupol in 2022. EPA

Ukrainian servicemen shoot from a captured Russian 152, 4mm howitzer Msta-B on a front line near Kupyansk city in 2022. EPA

A prothesis is adjusted on an Azov Regiment serviceman at a rehabilitation centre in Kyiv in 2022. EPA

Cars drive past the shell of a rocket in Shevchenkove, Kharkiv region, in 2022. EPA

A Ukrainian serviceman rests while travelling with a team of humanitarian volunteers in the Kherson area in 2022. EPA

A destroyed bridge in Kupiansk in 2022. Getty Images

A girl arrives at an evacuation point for people fleeing Mariupol, Melitopol and the surrounding towns under Russian control in 2022. Getty Images

The mother of Ukrainian serviceman Andrii Verkhoglyad holds her son's portrait during his funeral ceremony at St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv in 2022. EPA

Self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic militia monitors a section of the road near Avdiivka, Donetsk region, in 2022. EPA

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at a warehouse after it was hit by Russian shelling in Kharkiv in 2022. Getty Images

A Ukrainian soldier waves the Ukrainian national flag while standing on top of an armoured personnel carrier in Hostomel in 2022. Getty Images

A man pushes his bike through debris and destroyed Russian military vehicles in Bucha in 2022. Getty Images

Residents of Irpin flee heavy fighting in 2022. Getty Images

A child on a swing outside a residential building damaged by a missile in Kyiv in 2022. Getty Images

The attacks came hours after Mr Trump held a keenly awaited phone call with Mr Putin during which the leaders agreed to seek an energy infrastructure ceasefire.

Mr Putin had ordered the Russian military to cease such attacks, the Kremlin said. In a readout of the call, which lasted more than an hour, the White House said that the leaders had also agreed to hold negotiations on the implementation of a possible maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea.

“This conflict should never have started and should have been ended long ago with sincere and good-faith peace efforts”, according to the White House readout, which also said that negotiations would “begin immediately in the Middle East”.

Mr Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff later said talks will continue on Sunday in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah. He said the US delegation would be led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, but did not indicate who they would be holding talks with.

Referring to the ceasefire on energy infrastructure and targets in the Black Sea, Mr Witkoff said: “I think both of those are now agreed to by the Russians. I am certainly hopeful that the Ukrainians will agree to it.”

The Kremlin said that Mr Putin and Mr Trump had a “detailed and frank exchange of views” on Ukraine, and that Mr Putin had said resolution of the conflict must be “comprehensive, sustainable and long-term”, taking into account Russia's security interests and the root causes of the war. The White House also said the two presidents had agreed that Iran should never be in a position to destroy Israel, and that they discussed the need for improved bilateral relations between the US and Russia.

Mr Trump called his call with Mr Putin “very good and productive”.

“We agreed to an immediate Ceasefire on all Energy and Infrastructure, with an understanding that we will be working quickly to have a Complete Ceasefire and, ultimately, an end to this very horrible War between Russia and Ukraine,” he wrote on Truth Social.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and took over large areas of territory in the eastern part of the country. Europe and the US quickly rallied around Ukraine as it attempted to push back the invasion, and with extensive military aid, Ukrainian troops have put up remarkable resistance on the battlefield. But in recent months, Russia has reversed some of Ukraine's gains and the outcome of the conflict is uncertain.

Last week, Ukraine agreed to a 30-day truce proposed by the US during negotiations between US and Ukrainian officials in Jeddah. Following the announcement of the agreement, the US said that it would resume weapons shipments to and intelligence sharing with Ukraine, which had been paused amid tension between Washington and Kyiv.

Mr Witkoff met Mr Putin for several hours in Moscow last week to discuss the ceasefire proposal. Mr Witkoff later told CNN that he had been able to narrow differences between the sides.

Mr Putin said after the agreement was announced that he supported Washington's proposal for a truce in principle, though he suggested direct talks with Mr Trump and added that his troops would continue to fight until several conditions are met. Mr Zelenskyy has cast doubt on Russia's willingness to end the war and its sincerity in negotiations.

Mr Trump, who took office on January 20, has made permanently ending the war in Ukraine a main foreign policy priority. The Republican ran on a campaign to advance an “America first” policy towards the world, and has antagonised allies and sought rapprochement with Russia, a historical foe.

The call between Mr Putin and Mr Trump also comes in the wake of extraordinary developments in US-Ukrainian relations. An Oval Office meeting between Mr Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Mr Zelenskyy last month turned into a shouting match, with the US leaders saying the Ukrainian President was “disrespectful” and not grateful enough for US support. The cuts to aid and intelligence sharing came after this meeting.

Mr Trump has said that he wants to overturn the legacy of his predecessor Joe Biden, who made equipping Ukraine with defensive weapons to fend off Russia's advances a central goal. He said the US had grossly overspent on the war at the expense of American taxpayers.

He has pushed for Nato allies to do more to support Ukraine, arguing that European countries have more at stake given their geographical proximity to the war. Mr Trump has also promised to pay back American taxpayers by advancing a deal that would allow the US to benefit from the mining of rare earth minerals in Ukraine, though few details of the proposal have been made available.