President Trump spoke to Russian president Vladimir Putin Tuesday however did not win settlement for a right away ceasefire with Ukraine that might result in a peace deal.
The 2 leaders held a telephone name that stretched on for greater than 90 minutes as Trump sought a breakthrough towards ending the battle that began when Russia invaded its neighbor greater than three years in the past.
The White Home mentioned Trump and Putin agreed to an “infrastructure and energy ceasefire” and talks for a ceasefire within the Black Sea in Saudi Arabia.
However Putin apparently refused to just accept a right away 30-day ceasefire throughout the whole battlefield as Ukraine did final week.
“(Trump and Putin) spoke about the need for peace and a ceasefire in the Ukraine war,” the White Home mentioned in a press release.
President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake arms throughout a joint press convention after their summit on July 16, 2018 in Helsinki, Finland. (Chris McGrath/Getty Pictures)
A Kremlin assertion repeated a number of Russian preconditions for a full ceasefire, suggesting that Putin rejected calls to just accept a right away ceasefire.
The Russians additionally say they demanded a halt to Western arms shipments and intelligence sharing to Ukraine in alternate for any ceasefire, a situation that’s more likely to be dealbreaker for Kyiv.
The White Home says peace is inside attain and that Putin desires to finish the struggle with Ukraine.
The apparently cordial name is simply the most recent overture to Putin as Trump made shortly ending the battle a prime precedence, even when it means handing a deal to Russia that may reward it for launching the invasion within the first place.
However Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Putin is simply manipulating a war-weary world and hopes to seize extra Ukrainian territory.
The groundwork for the Trump-Putin name was laid final week when White Home particular envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin in Moscow to debate the ceasefire proposal and get Russian suggestions.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier persuaded senior Ukrainian officers to just accept a ceasefire with out preconditions throughout talks in Saudi Arabia.
This {photograph} exhibits residential buildings closely broken by air assaults, in Kostyantynivka, jap Donetsk area, on March 17, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
After Ukraine agreed to the ceasefire, Russia didn’t reject it outright, however Putin has raised a number of objections that might scuttle it.
In an ominous signal for Ukraine, Trump has additionally mentioned Washington and Moscow have already begun discussing “dividing up certain assets” as a part of a deal to finish the battle.
Trump has mentioned management of land and energy crops can be a part of the dialog, which comes on the anniversary of Russia annexing Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula 11 years in the past. That daring land seize set the stage for Russia to invade Ukraine correct in 2022.
Ukrainian servicemen wave as they drive an armoured car on a street within the Donetsk area, on Monday, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (ROMAN PILIPEY/AFP through Getty Pictures)
Russia since has sought to annex 4 Ukrainian provinces. Two of these provinces, Donetsk and Luhansk, are virtually solely occupied by Russian invasion forces. The opposite two, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, are divided between Ukrainian and Russian management.
Trump hasn’t been shy about utilizing his leverage to pressure Ukraine to be extra versatile.
After a disastrous Feb. 28 White Home assembly with Zelenskyy, Trump quickly minimize off some army intelligence-sharing and support to Ukraine. It was restored after the Ukrainians final week signed off on the Trump administration’s 30-day ceasefire proposal.
It stays to be seen if Trump is keen to take the same arduous line with Putin.
Initially Printed: March 18, 2025 at 1:55 PM EDT
