LONDON and WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump stated he plans to talk on Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid the U.S. president’s efforts to finish Russia’s conflict in Ukraine.
Trump added that “a variety of work” was completed over the weekend and that “we’ll see if we’ve got one thing to announce. Perhaps by Tuesday.” He stated that his administration needs “to see if we are able to convey that conflict to an finish.”
“Perhaps we are able to. Perhaps we won’t, however I believe we’ve got an excellent likelihood,” he stated, talking onboard Air Drive One as he returned to Washington, D.C., on Sunday evening.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters, watched by Nationwide Safety Advisor Mike Waltz, aboard Air Drive One on his return to Washington, D.C., U.S., March 16, 2025.
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
The Trump administration has in latest weeks been pushing Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to have interaction on ending the 3-year-old conflict, high-stakes diplomatic maneuvering that included negotiating a possible 30-day ceasefire with Ukrainian officers in Saudi Arabia.
The Kremlin has but to agree, with Putin saying he was “for it” but in addition that he sought additional safety ensures. Zelenskyy over the weekend accused Putin of “prolonging” the conflict.
Zelenskyy on Sunday reiterated that sentiment, saying in his nightly handle that “Russia stole nearly one other week — per week of conflict that solely Russia needs.” He stated Ukraine would do something to additional diplomacy that might finish the conflict, however that “protection and resilience are paramount”
“We should bear in mind — so long as the occupier is on our land, and so long as air raid sirens sound, we should defend Ukraine,” Zelenskyy stated, in accordance with a translated transcript offered by his workplace.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Drive One on his return to Washington, D.C., U.S., March 16, 2025.
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Zelenskyy has lengthy held {that a} Ukrainian victory towards the Russian invasion would come with the nation taking again the territory captured by Russia through the conflict. The Kremlin additionally annexed the Crimean Peninsula after Russia’s 2014 invasion.
Putin final week echoed Zelenskyy’s phrases, saying he would search a total victory in Kursk, the Russian border area captured by Ukraine in a shock incursion late final summer season, by regaining each inch of it.
Requested what kind of concessions the U.S. could be searching for from Moscow and Kyiv to strike a ceasefire settlement, Trump indicated discussions round land and energy crops had been on the desk, in addition to “dividing up” property between the 2 international locations.
“Nicely, I believe we’ll be speaking about land. It is a variety of land,” he stated on Sunday. “It is rather a lot completely different than it was earlier than the wars, you realize. And we’ll be speaking about land, we’ll be speaking about energy crops. That is an enormous query, however I believe we’ve got a variety of it already mentioned, very a lot by either side.”
ABC Information’ Jessica Gorman contributed to this report.
