Zelenskyy calls for blocking Moscow's attempts to drag out war

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russian leader Vladimir Putin had effectively rejected a US proposal for a full ceasefire on Tuesday, and urged the world to block any attempts by Moscow to drag out its war against Ukraine.

Putin agreed to temporarily stop attacking Ukrainian energy facilities but declined to endorse a full 30-day ceasefire, coming well short of what US President Donald Trump sought as the first step toward a permanent peace deal.

Zelenskyy, who had agreed to the 30-day ceasefire, said after a call on Tuesday between Putin and Trump that he would support the limited ceasefire proposal put forward by Putin.

"Our side (would) support this," Zelenskyy told reporters during a quickly-organised online briefing, when asked about the idea of a moratorium on energy strikes.

But after Moscow launched more than 40 drones on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure a few hours later, Zelenskyy called on the world to stop Putin. "Today, Putin de facto rejected the proposal for a complete ceasefire," he said in a post on the Telegram. "It would be right for the world to reject in response any attempts by Putin to drag out the war."

The White House said the telephone hook-up between Trump and Putin was aimed at advancing immediately toward a broader peace plan and another round of talks in Saudi Arabia will begin immediately.

Russia attacks after Trump-Putin talk

Late on Tuesday, Russia's drone attack hit a hospital in Sumy and Moscow carried out strikes at several other Ukrainian regions, including the Kyiv region that surrounds the Ukrainian capital, Zelenskiy and his officials said.

"Russia is attacking civilian infrastructure and people - right now," Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy's chief of staff, said on Telegram.

There was no immediate comment from Russia about the attacks a few short hours after the Putin-Trump call. Both Ukraine and Russia have said their strikes aim at destroying each other's infrastructure key to war efforts.

Zelenskyy told reporters that Russia had launched more than 1,300 guided bombs, eight missiles and nearly 600 long-range strike drones at Ukraine since the first round of talks in Saudi Arabia earlier in March.

He said that Ukraine had proposed the idea of ceasefire on energy infrastructure during those talks. "This was part of our proposal for the sky and for the sea. With the mediation of the American side, if they are the guarantors of control over the implementation of this ceasefire."