European leaders have expressed skepticism regarding the limited ceasefire in Ukraine agreed upon by Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, suggesting that the Russian president is not genuinely committed to finding a peaceful resolution to the three-year-old conflict.
During the call with the US president, Putin agreed to a partial ceasefire that would prevent Russian forces from targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. However, he did not commit to the 30-day full ceasefire plan proposed by Trump last week and accepted by Ukraine.
Further doubts about the deal emerged after Russia launched a series of attacks on targets across Ukraine just hours after Trump and Putin spoke. Russia also reported attacks by Ukrainian drones.
Germany’s defense minister, Boris Pistorius, criticized the deal, stating that attacks on civilian infrastructure had not ceased and that Putin was playing a game that the American president would not tolerate for long. Pistorius also argued that Putin’s commitment to stop attacks on energy targets was essentially meaningless since such infrastructure in Ukraine was already well-protected.
Pistorius described the Kremlin’s demand for a halt to Western military and intelligence support to Ukraine as “unacceptable,” suggesting that Putin aimed to prevent Kyiv’s backers from further supporting Ukraine and enabling its self-defense.
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, affirmed that their countries would continue providing military aid to Ukraine. Finnish President Alexander Stubb also dismissed Russian demands for a halt to support for Kyiv, stating that Ukraine had the right to defend itself and receive assistance from its partners.
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, downplayed the significance of the US-Russia deal, emphasizing that Russia showed no real willingness to make concessions and that Kremlin demands to stop arming Kyiv could not be accepted.
Spain’s foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, expressed caution regarding the prospects for peace, describing the conflict as “one man’s war
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/19/europe-leaders-react-with-scepticism-to-partial-ukraine-ceasefire-russia-putin
