Washington DC / Moscow:
Nearly three weeks after a disasterous meeting with Ukraine’s President Zelensky at the White House where the two leaders aimed at a peaceful end to the years=long war in Ukraine, President Donald Trump today dialled his Russian counterpart in a fresh attempt to find an end to the conflict.
Donald Trump, who called Vladimir Putin at 10 am Eastern Time (US), is still in a detailed conversation with the Russian leader. The phone call is still ongoing and it has been over 90 minutes. “The call is going well, and still in progress,” said the White House.
Happening Now—President Trump is currently in the Oval Office speaking with President Vladimir Putin of Russia since 10:00amEDT. The call is going well, and still in progress.
— Dan Scavino (@Scavino47) March 18, 2025
Both leaders are negotiating to find ways to secure a ceasefire in the eastern European conflict zone. Tens of thousands of live have been lost so far in the war that has been going on for more than three years.
Even before the phonecall, President Trump had already made it clear that he was ready to discuss what parts of captured Ukraine Russia will be allowed to keep. Moscow and Washington are already talking about “dividing up certain assets,” the US President had said over the weekend.
European nations are worried that President Trump, who has not hidden his admiration for Russia’s Putin, may agree to cede too much Ukrainian territory to Russia. They are also very concerned that Ukraine is not being consulted on decisions that may be agreed upon in today’s phonecall.
Since Zelensky’s Oval Office showdown with President Trump, Ukraine has agreed to temporarily stop the war for 30 days and engage in dailogue with Russia, but President Putin has set a string of conditions, which Moscow has said is non-negotiable. And only if these guarantees can be provided, will Moscow and Kyiv sit for talks.
Rejecting a barrage of conditions set by Moscow, Kyiv has said that it expects Moscow to “unconditionally” accept a ceasefire. “It is time for Russia to show whether it really wants peace,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga had said.
Doubling down on Moscow’s conditions for Kyiv and the rest of Europe, Vladimir Putin has said that any ceasefire that Russia accepts will only benefit Ukraine as his troops are “steadily advancing” through Ukrainian territory.
President Putin has, in no uncertain terms, made it clear that Moscow will never accept NATO troops deployed as peacekeeping forces in Ukraine. Russia has maintainted that it is because of NATO coming to Ukraine in the first place, that led to the war. Putin has also said that he expects the US to stop arming Ukraine for any peace deal to even be considered.