Trump plans to talk to Putin on March 18th

Trump is trying to mediate a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine, which has already entered in the fourth year.

I will speak with President Putin on Tuesday. Much work has been done over the weekend”, Trump told reporters on March 16, on a flight to Washington from his resort in Florida.

We want to see if we can end this war. Maybe we can, maybe we can't, but I think we have a very good chance”, Trump said.

When asked about possible concessions required to ensure a ceasefire, Trump said that “will talk about land, we will talk about thermal power plants”.

I think that much has been discussed by both sides Ukraine and Russia. We are already discussing, sharing specific assets”, Trump said.

There were no immediate comments from the Kremlin.

Trump ʹ during the first months of his second term, he has made it a priority to reach a ceasefire agreement on war in Ukraine.

After talks in Saudi Arabia, Ukrainian and American officials have announced on March 11th that Kiev has agreed to a 30-day ceasefire.

Moscow, until now, has reacted quietly to the idea.

Putin has proposed additional conditions, including the freeze of Kiev's weapons supplies.

Meanwhile, a senior Russian official has said Moscow will insist that Ukraine is not allowed to join NATO and remain “neutral” in any peace agreement ) conditions Kiev has long rejected.

Putin has said on March 14th that any agreement should lead to long-term peace and address the reasons <x0) of war” a reference this, apparently, to NATO enlargement and other developments he claims to have put Russia's security at risk.

In comments published on March 17th, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexandr Grusko has told the Russian newspaper “Izvestia” that “we will ask that iron security guarantees be made part of this” agreement.

“The share of these guarantees should be the neutral status of Ukraine, the refusal of NATO countries to accept it into the” alliance, he has said.

How do they view the ceasefire proposal in Ukraine and Russia?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has often said that to accept a peace agreement, Kiev must have security guarantees from Western partners, including eventual NATO membership.

“I have insisted [for Ukraine's membership in] NATO, but you know what responses have been to”, he has said in February, adding that the way to join the Western military alliance continues to stumble.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview for CBS on March 16th that the final peace agreement would include “many jobs, concessions from both Russia and Ukraine”.

He has added that such talks will hardly start “as long as they shoot against each other”. /rel/