LARGO, Fla. — Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed Tuesday to halt attacks on infrastructure and energy targets in Ukraine. The agreement comes after a two-plus hour call with President Donald Trump and stops short of a full ceasefire agreement.
The White House calls it a "movement toward peace" and said negotiators are still working out a broader deal to end the three-year long war with Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he's hoping to speak to Trump about the Russia call soon.
Meanwhile, Tampa Bay residents with ties to Ukraine continue to watch the situation evolve.
Yuriy Tymoshenko moved to the U.S. from Ukraine when he was 18 years old. He told Spectrum News it was something that happened after the president’s phone call with Putin that he felt was telling about whether the limited ceasefire will last.
“As we speak, Kyiv is getting bombed,” Tymoshenko said. “So, I think we kind of see the value of those words by Vladimir Putin.”
Tymoshenko said he is hopeful about parts of the agreement, like Ukraine and Russia’s plan to exchange 175 prisoners each Wednesday.
“I think any time Ukrainians get their prisoners from Russian captivity in one piece, I think it’s an important news story,” he said. “We look at, you know, the Russian POWs that are on the Ukrainian buses going back to Russia, the Ukrainian POWs on Russian buses going back to Ukraine — it’s night and day. You know, Ukrainians look much more malnourished, a lot of them exhibit signs of torture.”
Putin also pushed for an end to U.S. military and intelligence assistance to Ukraine.
Tymoshenko, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, said he’s glad Trump didn’t agree to that. The U.S. previously did cut off aid to Ukraine after a tense meeting between the president, Vice President J.D. Vance and Zelenskyy last month. It was restored last week.
“Anytime Ukraine gets cut off, they lose a significant amount of their standing, as we saw in the Kursk battle. Kursk front collapsed because that coincided with the fact that the aid, that intelligence support was cut off,” said Tymoshenko.
He said that as both a veteran and member of the Ukrainian community, he does see the good that can come from the ceasefire.
“But as far as making this a significant milestone towards peace, so far, I’m not hopeful,” he said.