President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia agreed for the first time on Tuesday to a limited cease-fire that would stop strikes on energy infrastructure, as long as Ukraine does the same, the Kremlin said in a statement. But in a two-and-a-half-hour phone call with President Trump, the Russian leader declined for now to agree to a broader 30-day halt in fighting that U.S. and Ukrainian officials had proposed, meaning that the attacks on Ukrainian civilians, cities and ports can continue as the two sides vie for territory. A partial cease-fire would not only benefit Ukraine, which has struggled for years with Russia’s repeated attacks on its energy grid, but also come as a relief to the Kremlin: Ukraine has conducted extensive strikes on Russia’s oil and gas facilities deep into the Russian heartland, jeopardizing Moscow’s most crucial stream of state revenue.
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