President Donald Trump held a high-stakes call with Vladimir Putin on Tuesday as the United States seeks a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. A White House readout of the call said Putin supports Trump's idea for a mutual pause on energy infrastructure attacks -- but did not include a commitment to the 30-day truce accepted by Ukraine last week despite Trump's optimism in recent days that Moscow would go along.

The White House described it as the first step in a “movement to peace” that it hopes will include a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea and eventually a full and lasting end to the fighting.