Analysts: Putin Didn't Give Up Much in Trump Call

A day after Vladimir Putin and President Trump spoke by phone, analysts are skeptical that Putin offered much in the way of concessions toward a ceasefire. In fact, the Russian leader "conceded little," writes Paul Sonne in a New York Times analysis, arguing that much of what Putin agreed to were actually Russian objectives. More:

• The deal: The 30-day stoppage to attacks on energy infrastructure is "the least costly partial ceasefire for Russia to agree to," regional expert Jon Richardson writes at the Conversation. Some 80% of Ukraine's energy infrastructure has reportedly already been destroyed, while Kyiv's attacks are "threatening one of the main funding sources of Moscow's war effort."

• Already violated? Overnight attacks on Ukraine's energy grid call into question "just how closely Putin intends to stick to the ceasefire," reports the Wall Street Journal.
• Prisoner exchange: The reported agreement "is a minor arrangement, and smacks of something already in the works, given the frequency of similar past swaps and the fact it is due to happen as quickly as Wednesday," writes Nick Paton Walsh at CNN.
• Putin's 'key condition': For peace to be reached, Putin demanded an end to outside military and intelligence support for Ukraine, which would allow Russia to reimpose its dominance over the country. As this is a nonstarter for Kyiv, its supporters feel Putin is dragging his feet, hoping to make further battlefield advances or see a further deterioration of the Washington-Kyiv relationship, per the Times.
• He has the power: That Putin made Trump "wait for more than an hour to talk" and joked about it publicly shows where the power lies, writes Richardson. While Russia is in no hurry to end the war, Washington is, and "Trump has few options to counter either a Russian rejection or protracted feigned compliance," Russian political analyst Alexander Baunov tells the Times.
• Unrealistic: Ultimately, "the administration's talk about peace in the first 100 days was commendable as an aspiration but not realistic as a goal," according to a Center for Strategic and International Studies commentary. "The question now facing Trump is whether to apply real pressure on Putin to make concessions or try to wring more compromises out of Kyiv than he already has," per the Journal.

(More Russia-Ukraine war stories.)