WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed moves to end the Ukraine war on Tuesday (Mar 18) and the White House said their phone call was going well.
Trump hopes to convince Putin to accept a US-proposed 30-day ceasefire and move towards a permanent end to the three-year-old conflict.
A White House official said the two leaders had been on the phone since 10am (10pm, Singapore time).
“The call is going well, and still in progress,” Dan Scavino, White House deputy chief of staff, wrote in a post on social media platform X.
There was no immediate comment from the Kremlin.
Ukraine has agreed to a US-proposed 30-day ceasefire in Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II, in which hundreds of thousands of people have been killed or wounded, millions have been displaced and towns have been reduced to rubble.
Putin said last week he supported in principle Washington’s proposal for a 30-day truce but that his forces would fight on until several crucial conditions were worked out.
Trump hopes to secure progress towards a longer-term peace plan, which he has hinted could include territorial concessions by Kyiv and control of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
“Many elements of a Final Agreement have been agreed to, but much remains,” Trump said in a social media post on Monday. “Each week brings 2,500 soldier deaths, from both sides, and it must end NOW.”
