Localized Ukraine ceasefire begins
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KHERSON, Ukraine -- Russia and Ukraine began observing a localized ceasefire in a devastated southern Ukrainian city on Tuesday, ahead of a planned humanitarian mission that the White House said was brokered by U.S. first lady Melania Trump. Moscow kept up its deadly missile attacks on other cities in the meantime.
The humanitarian truce in and around the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky is a high-stakes operation for Moscow and Kyiv, which are both keen to win U.S. President Donald Trump's favor after 4½ years of war. Earlier attempts at limited ceasefires quickly unraveled or never took hold due to the deep mistrust between Russia and Ukraine.
As darkness fell, Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said no violations had been recorded by either side.
Melania Trump said in a post on X that the ceasefire began two days earlier than initially planned "to protect the safety of civilians and to facilitate the delivery of critical humanitarian aid." She didn't elaborate on those considerations.
She said the ceasefire encompasses areas beyond Oleshky to facilitate the safe passage of humanitarian convoys.
Meanwhile, Finland's president and Norway's prime minister spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin, officials said, in their first known direct conversation since shortly after Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine began on Feb. 24, 2022.
Many Western officials have accused Putin of masterminding a campaign of disruption across Europe and have sought to diplomatically isolate the Russian leader.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store and Finnish President Alexander Stubb later spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to Zelenskyy's office.
Officials: Ceasefire takes hold in a southern Ukrainian city
A local pause in fighting started at 3 a.m. to allow an aid mission into the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky this week. Food and medical supplies are running perilously low in Oleshky, where drones and land mines restrict movement for as many as 2,000 people who remain.
Russian and Ukrainian negotiators and military officials confirmed in separate statements that the Oleshky ceasefire had begun.
Russia's occupying forces impose strict limits on who can enter Oleshky.
Ksenia Arkhipova, who fled the city in 2022 and now, as a volunteer, helps others leave, said some residents have told her they fear Russian officials may "filter out" evacuees with pro-Ukrainian views.
"People say they are genuinely afraid that the Russians will check their phones and look for evidence of Ukrainian relatives or ties to the Armed Forces of Ukraine -- something they have done repeatedly in other occupied territories," Arkhipova, who lives in Ukraine, told The Associated Press by phone.
Nordic leaders say Putin call was 'frank'
The phone calls with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders followed an Oct. 20 meeting in Oslo between the two Nordic leaders, Zelenskyy and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Stubb and Store said they initiated the call with Putin, speaking with him for 90 minutes, to discuss the war and upcoming trilateral talks involving delegations from Russia, Ukraine and the United States that are expected to take place next month in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The talks will seek to lay the groundwork for detailed peace negotiations.
The leaders said in statements they spoke for their own countries, not for Europe as a whole.
"The discussion was frank and substantive," Stubb said.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she was "very skeptical" of reaching out to Putin, saying she sees "no signs that Russia desires peace with Europe."
The Kremlin gave no hint that Moscow is ready to back down from its key demands, saying in a statement that "achieving a just and long-term peace is possible only if the legitimate interests of the Russian Federation are fully and unconditionally taken into account."
Zelenskyy said Russian attacks, including relentless strikes on Ukraine's power grid, must stop in order to open a path to peace.
"There must be peace, de-escalation is needed, and Russia must stop dragging out the war," Zelenskyy said on X.