I'm John Batchler. I welcome Anatole Levin of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft

to explain the negotiations between three capitals, Washington, Moscow, and Keefe over the Ukraine tragedy.

Complicated by announcements in these last hours from the two presidents, Mr. Putin and Mr. Trump,

I read the headline that we have.

Putin, quote, agrees ceasefire over Ukrainian cities, end quote. That's the telegraph. This is London.

Whereas Russian president will stop all attacks for a week, says the president of the United States,

Donald Trump. Not the same

statement, but Anatole, your excellent piece about the negotiation doesn't remove the

possibility right now of war being continued. And over these last 24 hours, there was the implied threat from Moscow.

There would be a new, very large barrage against Ukrainian cities, especially the infrastructure.

Everybody's suffering with the cold and the lack of electricity.

Now we get an announcement from both Washington, the cabinet meeting, and from the Kremlin,

where it's eight hours later, that there will be a ceasefire in Keef and certain various cities.

How do you interpret all of this?

Because your article, which we'll now explore, illustrates that there is a positive intention to

settle this at the negotiating table. Is that what we're hearing? Good evening to you.

Hello, John. Well, so far we've only heard this from Trump, not from Putin. But it's

certainly a very positive sign because putting pressure on Ukraine

by attacking Ukrainian power infrastructure in Ukrainian cities has been a key part of Russia's strategy.

Now, they're only suspending it for a week, but still,

you know, it's a good sign. Perhaps it can be extended. Of course, the Russians will expect that

during that time the Ukrainians will not attack Russian energy infrastructure. So let's hope that

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