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Trump Sets March 18 Call With Putin In Search Of Cease-Fire In Ukraine War
By RFE/RL March 17, 2025
US President Donald Trump said he plans to speak by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 18 as he bids to bring about a cease-fire in the war in Ukraine that has drained both sides of soldiers and resources.
"I'll be speaking to President Putin on Tuesday. A lot of work's been done over the weekend," Trump told reporters late on March 16 during a flight back to Washington from his resort in Florida.
"We want to see if we can bring that war to an end. Maybe we can, maybe we can't, but I think we have a very good chance," Trump said.
When asked about possible concessions that might be required to secure a cease-fire, Trump said that "we'll be talking about land. We'll be talking about power plants."
"I think we have a lot of it already discussed very much by both sides, Ukraine and Russia. We're already talking about that, dividing up certain assets."
The Kremlin did not immediately comment.
Trump has made a priority during the first months of his second term in office to bring about a cease-fire agreement in the three-year war in Ukraine.
After holding talks in Saudi Arabia, Ukrainian and US officials announced on March 11 that Kyiv had agreed to a 30-day cease-fire proposal, contingent on Russia's agreement.
Moscow has so far reacted coolly to the idea, with Putin suggesting additional conditions, including a freeze on US weapons supplies to Kyiv.
Meanwhile, a top Russian official said Moscow will insist Ukraine not be allowed to join NATO and remain "neutral" in any peace deal -- conditions Kyiv has long rejected.
One of the Kremlin's original grievances in justifying its February 2022 invasion continues to be one of Kyiv's central demands: NATO membership.
On March 14, Putin had said any agreement should lead to long-term peace that addresses the "root" reasons for the war -- an apparent reference to NATO expansion and other developments Putin claims have put Russia's security in jeopardy.
In remarks published on March 17, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko told the Russian daily Izvestia that "we will demand that ironclad security guarantees become part of this agreement."
"Part of these guarantees should be the neutral status of Ukraine, the refusal of NATO countries to accept it into the alliance," he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has often stressed that for Kyiv to accept any peace deal it must come with security guarantees for Ukraine from its Western partners, including eventual NATO membership.
"I have insisted [on Ukraine's membership in] NATO, but you know what the answers have been," he said in February, suggesting that the path to joining the Western military alliance remains obstructed.
On March 16, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a CBS interview that a final peace accord would "involve a lot of hard work, concessions from both Russia and Ukraine," adding that it would be difficult to even start such talks "as long as they're shooting at each other."
Separately in March 17, French President Emmanuel Macron and new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met in Paris and "reaffirmed their unwavering support for Ukraine as it continues to resist Russia's unjustifiable war of aggression," according to a joint statement.
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy on March 16 shook up his military leadership, appointing Major General Andriy Hnatov as Ukraine's new chief of the General Staff, replacing Lieutenant-General Anatoliy Barhilevych, as Kyiv looks to speed the pace of reform and reorganization.
"We are consistently changing the armed forces to make them even more combat ready. To achieve it, we are changing the management system and introducing clear standards," Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said
The statement said Barhilevych, who was appointed to the post in February 2024, will now serve as inspector general of the Defense Ministry. Barhilevych replaced Lieutenant General Serhiy Shaptala when he took the post on the General Staff in 2024.
On the battlefield, Russian forces launched what appeared to be a major drone strike on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, on March 16 as explosions were heard in various districts.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said air-defense units were attempting to knock out the drones and warned residents to "stay in shelters."
In the Sumy region, authorities said one person was killed and two injured when explosive devices dropped from a Russian drone and mortar fire hit an apartment building in the Bilopillia community.
In Russia's Kursk region, Russian forces continued their drive to force Ukrainian troops from territory they had captured in a stunning cross-border offensive last August.
Latest estimates put the area under Ukrainian control at about 110 square kilometers, down from a peak of nearly 1,400 square kilometers last year. Fierce battles raged in the region, making it difficult to confirm any claims by either side.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service and Reuters
Copyright (c) 2025. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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