US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone on Tuesday, a potentially crucial step toward ending the war in Ukraine more than three years after Moscow’s invasion.
Both sides have expressed optimism about the current talks between Washington and Moscow, but have agreed that only high-level talks will be able to resolve the most difficult points of the 30-day ceasefire.
Ukraine has agreed to a ceasefire, but Kiev and European capitals suspect Putin may be playing for time and are skeptical about whether Trump would be willing to use pressure against a leader with whom he wants to restore relations. “We’re going to have a very important conversation,” Trump told reporters on Monday. “We’re getting to a very important stage.”
“Many elements of the final deal have been agreed upon, but there is still much to be done,” Trump later said on his Truth social network. “I am very much looking forward to meeting with President Putin.” Putin said last week that he agreed with the idea of a ceasefire but wanted to discuss it with Trump, warning that he had “serious questions” about how to implement it.
After Moscow seized parts of southern and eastern Ukraine, US officials have made it clear that Ukraine is likely to have to leave the region in any deal. Trump said on Sunday that he and Putin would discuss “dividing up some assets.” This includes land and power plants: this is likely a reference to the Moscow-controlled Zaporizhia nuclear plant, Europe’s largest, in southern Ukraine.
US–Ukraine split
There has been a complete change in US policy towards Ukraine since Trump’s return to the White House. US President Trump stunned the world last month by announcing he had spoken to Putin, breaking Western efforts to isolate the Russian president as his forces continued their invasion of Ukraine.
He has since spoken to the Russian president “many times.” He has repeatedly expressed his admiration for Putin in the past, though no talks have been formally announced. Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with Putin for three hours in Moscow last Thursday to outline a joint ceasefire plan, which envisions a 30-day pause in the fighting.
But as Washington’s relations with Moscow have improved, its relations with Ukraine have become more complicated. Trump had a row with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office on February 28. The dispute led to the United States temporarily suspending billions of dollars in military aid to Kiev.
Zelensky was later forced to agree to both a ceasefire plan and a deal giving the United States preferential access to Ukraine’s rare mineral deposits.
