Trump concedes Russians may be ‘dragging their feet’ over peace in Ukraine

US President Donald Trump conceded on Tuesday that the Russians may be “dragging their feet” over a deal to end the war in Ukraine, just hours after the White House announced that both Moscow and Kyiv had signed up to a US-brokered ceasefire in the Black Sea.

“I think that Russia wants to see an end to it, but it could be they’re dragging their feet”, Trump said in an interview with conservative media network Newsmax. “I’ve done it over the years, you know; I don’t want to sign a contract, I want to sort of stay in the game, but maybe I don’t want to do it”.

Trump added that both sides were losing an average of 2,500 soldiers every week and that both Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would ultimately “like to see it end at this point”.

In his evening address to Ukrainians on Tuesday, Zelensky accused Russia of “manipulation” after Moscow said it would only adhere to a Black Sea ceasefire on the condition that certain sanctions on its agricultural sector were lifted.

“How Russia behaves in the coming days will reveal a lot, if not everything. If there are air raid alerts again, if there is renewed military activity in the Black Sea, if Russian manipulations and threats continue — then new measures will need to be taken, specifically against Moscow,” Zelensky said.

In addition to a ceasefire in the Black Sea, both Russia and Ukraine agreed to “develop measures” for implementing a ceasefire on each other’s energy facilities, the White House said on Tuesday — something Ukraine confirmed in less uncertain terms, saying that “all parties” had agreed “on a complete ban” on energy infrastructure strikes.

Shortly after that announcement, Russia’s Foreign Ministry ruled out the prospect of returning Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which has been under Russian occupation since March 2022, to Kyiv, something that was discussed in recent talks between the US and Ukraine.

While the White House said that during a call with Zelensky last week Trump had suggested the US operate or even own Ukraine’s nuclear power stations, arguing that it would guarantee the facilities’ security, Moscow said on Tuesday that Russian control of the Zaporizhzhia plant was a “fait accompli that the international community has to recognise” and that transferring it to Ukraine or to any other country would be “impossible”.