Egypt Daily News – U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone on Tuesday, discussing efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Washington hopes the talks will persuade Moscow to accept a 30-day ceasefire as a step toward a permanent peace agreement.
The call, which began at 10 a.m. ET (1400 GMT), concluded later in the day, according to official statements. White House Chief of Staff Dan Scavino had earlier described the conversation as “going well.” Meanwhile, Kirill Dmitriev, a Russian envoy, claimed that under Trump and Putin’s leadership, the world had become a safer place.
Ukraine has already agreed to Washington’s proposed ceasefire in a war that has become Europe’s largest conflict since World War II. The fighting has killed or wounded hundreds of thousands, displaced millions, and left entire cities in ruins.
Putin, whose forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022, said last week that he supported the truce “in principle” but that Russian troops would continue fighting until key conditions were met. Trump, in turn, is pushing for progress on a broader peace deal, which could involve territorial concessions from Kyiv and Russian control of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
Before the call, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Trump and Putin would discuss efforts to end the war and restore U.S.-Russia relations, noting that the two leaders already had a “certain understanding” from a previous phone call on February 12 and subsequent high-level diplomatic contacts.
Zelenskiy: Ukraine’s Sovereignty Is Not Up for Negotiation
Trump’s shifts in U.S. policy and his outreach to Putin since returning to the White House in January have unsettled traditional American allies.
Ukraine and its Western partners view Russia’s invasion as an attempt to seize territory by force. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has accused Putin of deliberately dragging out the conflict and insists that Ukraine’s sovereignty is non-negotiable. Speaking from Finland on Tuesday, where he discussed NATO’s continued support, Zelenskiy reiterated that Russia must fully withdraw and warned that if Moscow is allowed to keep occupied land, its ambitions will not stop at Ukraine.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen cautioned that Russia has dramatically increased its military-industrial production, preparing for “future confrontations with European democracies.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who spoke with Trump on Monday, emphasized the importance of ensuring Ukraine is in the strongest possible position to achieve a just and lasting peace, according to a statement from his office.
Russia’s Demands and the Path to Peace
Since its full-scale invasion in 2022, Russia has seized large portions of four eastern Ukrainian regions and now controls about one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory. This follows Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.
Putin has framed the invasion as a necessary response to NATO’s expansion, demanding that Ukraine abandon its ambition to join the alliance. In addition to territorial control, he has called for the lifting of Western sanctions and for Kyiv to hold a presidential election. Zelenskiy, elected in 2019, continues to govern under martial law, which was imposed due to the war.
With the war dragging into its third year, Trump is positioning himself as a potential broker for peace. However, any agreement that includes territorial concessions is likely to face strong opposition from Ukraine and its Western allies, who insist that Russia must fully withdraw before peace can be achieved.
