Vladimir Putin is “worse than dealing with gangsters” and cannot be trusted to uphold any ceasefire aimed at ending his invasion of Ukraine, officials have said – with the Russia leader accused of making a “mockery” of Donald Trump’s efforts for peace deal.
Ukraine and Russia have accused one another of flouting a truce on energy strikes brokered by the United States last week, and conditions set by the Kremlin have cast a shadow over a planned ceasefire in the Black Sea announced on Tuesday.
Three days of talks culminated in an agreement to “eliminate the use of force” in the Black Sea and to continue working towards a halt to attacks on energy infrastructure in Russia and Ukraine. But hours after the latest agreement, Russia launched a drone attack on the Ukrainian port of Mykolaiv, which provides the country with access to the Black Sea.
The mayor of Mykolaiv said there were emergency power outages early on Wednesday in the city, following a report by the region’s governor that seven drones were destroyed overnight over the region.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the US told Kyiv the Black Sea deal was effective as soon as they were announced. But the Kremlin said the Black Sea one would not enter force until a sanctioned Russian state bank was reconnected to the international payment system, a step that Europe said would not happen until Russia withdraws its troops from Ukraine.
The Kremlin also contends it has already been implementing a pause on energy attacks since 18 March, but Kyiv says eight energy facilities have been attacked with drones and missiles since then. And Ukrainian officials say they don’t believe such deals can be effective – or a broader ceasefire – if Putin needs to be trusted to implement them.
Oleksandr Merezhko, an MP who chairs the Ukrainian parliament’s foreign policy committee, told The Independent that dealing with Putin is “worse than dealing with gangsters” because “you can never trust, you can never rely [on him]”
“It’s an illusion to believe you can make a deal with Putin [which will] be followed conscientiously by Putin. It’s a total illusion,” Mr Merezhko said.
“Trump should understand that on Putin’s part, it’s a mockery. It’s a mockery, all this negotiation process. When Trump realises this, maybe he will change his attitude towards Putin.”
Mr Zelensky, sharing footage of the aftermath of a 117-drone attack by Russian forces, which also hit the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, said the strikes were a “clear signal to the whole world that Moscow is not going to pursue real peace”.
In an X post which called on the US to impose sanctions on Russia due to the continued attacks, Mr Zelensky said: “Literally every night, through its attacks, Russia keeps saying ‘no’ to our partners’ peace proposal.”
Meanwhile, the Kremlin hailed the 12-hour Russia-US talks on Tuesday, held in Saudi Arabia’s Ritz-Carlton hotel, “We are satisfied with how pragmatically and constructively our dialogue is developing and by how it is yielding results,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.
But Mr Peskov added that the Black Sea ceasefire can only be activated “after a number of conditions are implemented”, demanding the lifting of sanctions particularly on Russian food and fertiliser exports. Kyiv has said it is ready to implement it effective immediately.
Mr Merezhko, 54, who is a member of Mr Zelensky’s Servant of the People party and has served in the president’s team, said that Putin will “never” abide by a ceasefire regardless of the deals that are made.
“Putin can be trusted that he will violate [the ceasefires]. It will be viewed as a weakness if you follow the rules. If you play by the rules, for Russia, it’s weakness because they are cheaters and liars.”
Mr Merezhko said the Black Sea deal has not brought Kyiv and Moscow closer to a ceasefire, describing the separate statements issued by the White House following its talks with both sides as “too abstract, too general”.
“He’s using these negotiations for propagandistic purposes and to materialize his interests. One of them is to lift sanctions,” the MP added.
John Lough, the head of foreign policy at the New Eurasian Strategies Centre think tank, does not believe Tuesday’s agreement has brought the two sides closer to bringing about a widespread truce.
“To make these negotiations move in the direction they want, [the US] are going to have to put pressure on the Russians, and it doesn’t look as though, at this stage, that they want to do that.”
Despite Putin’s “very poor record” in upholding ceasefires, Mr Lough nonetheless believes there is incentive for Putin to take peace efforts seriously. Moscow, he said, needs to keep Trump onside for its own interests.
“Putin is sailing close to the wind, because if he doesn’t show greater willingness to go along with Trump’s ‘peace initiative’, then he does risk Trump getting either annoyed and or bored of the whole thing and just walking away.”
Mr Lough said that he believes this is not in Moscow’s interest. “Putin actually needs a break in this war, because it’s not going as well for the Russians as he would like to suggest. There is more pressure on Putin than it would appear.”
Mr Merezhko said that the only way to pressure Putin is with strength, calling for “strong sanctions against Russian energy, financial banking sector, and total economic isolation of Russia.
“You can get results from Putin, any results to stop him doing something, [but] only under extreme pressure.”
