OAN Staff James Meyers
10:36 AM – Friday, March 28, 2025
Russian President Vladimir Putin escalated hostilities on Friday by issuing a stark directive to “finish off” Ukrainian forces, following his earlier-ordered strikes on a Ukrainian energy facility—an act that violated the U.S.-backed “partial” Black Sea ceasefire with Ukraine.
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Russian military forces attacked the outpost in Kherson on Thursday, which violated the deal that called for a stoppage to military action in the Black Sea and a pause in long-range attacks on energy infrastructure.
Within the previous readout talks with the U.S., Russia had stated that the agreement would last 30 days, with the “possibility of extending and withdrawing from the agreement in case of non-compliance by one of the parties.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had also suggested that if either country feels the other has broken the deal — they should take up the issue with the U.S. in order to resolve the dispute.
Despite this, the Russian president, who previously said that his country would stop its strikes on Ukrainian energy targets in the Black Sea, has now called on his troops to continue advancing into Ukraine.
“I was saying not so long ago: ‘We will finish them off.’ There are reasons to believe that we will finish them off,” Putin said while attending the International Arctic Forum in Murmansk, according to the Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“We are gradually, not as fast as some would like, but nevertheless, persistently and confidently moving toward achieving all the goals stated at the beginning of the special operation,” the Kremlin leader added.
Additionally, on Friday, Putin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declared that Russia “reserves the right not” to abide by the moratorium on strikes against energy installations.
“The Russian side reached understanding and agreements with the U.S. counterparts,” Peskov said. “At the same time, the Russian side [also] reserves the right in case of failure of the Kyiv regime to comply with it, certainly, not to follow it also.” Peskov’s statement seemingly suggests that Russia has already accused Ukraine of breaking the secondary Black sea agreement.
The remarks from Russia come as the Trump administration has been working endlessly to re-establish peace between Moscow and Ukraine — looking to reach a permanent deal as soon as possible.
With Russia and Ukraine accusing the other of breaking the agreement, many are questioning whether the United States’ efforts to facilitate a stronger future peace deal are futile.
After discussions in Saudi Arabia this week, the White House said the warring countries had told U.S. officials that they both had agreed to “develop measures to implement the agreement to ban strikes against energy facilities in Russia and Ukraine.”
However, the talks were separated at Russia’s request. While both Ukrainian and Russian parties were in Saudi Arabia at the same time — the delegations did not communicate with each other.
The Trump administration has stated that both sides must first “build confidence” in each other, which could only happen if both countries undoubtedly abide by the partial cease-fires, Special Presidential Envoy to Ukraine General Keith Kellogg told The New York Post on Tuesday.
“President Trump wants to see both Ukraine and Russia in talks together,” Kellogg said. “The question of settling when and how that happens will be the result of what we call confidence-building measures over time.”
Meanwhile, other international leaders have repeatedly argued that they suspect Putin is trying to prolong cease-fire talks without any serious intent of ending the war.
Trump also recently called out Russia for “dragging their feet” in negotiations after Putin immediately went back on his word and launched a drone attack on Mykolaiv, a port city in Southern Ukraine near the Black Sea.
Putin at the Murmansk summit called for Zelensky’s removal and he revealed plans to replace him with a “transitional administration … to organize a Democratic presidential election that would result in the coming to power of a competent government that would have the confidence of the people, and then begin negotiations with these authorities on a peace agreement and sign legitimate documents.”
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