President Donald Trump held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss a 30-day cease-fire proposal to pave the way for a possible end to the Ukraine war.
The call started at 10 a.m. ET, according to White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, and has since wrapped up. It is unclear how long the call lasted. The White House said a readout will be released shortly.
Ahead of the call, Trump on Monday said Russia would agree to a 30-day cease-fire in its war with Ukraine and that “many elements” had been agreed to.
A reporter asked the president about Ukraine’s already-agreed-to 30-day cease-fire and enquired if Russia would agree to it as well.
“They would,” Trump said as he left the Kennedy Center in Washington. The president was at the cultural events center during his first tour since becoming its chairman in February.
On the same day, Trump said he looked forward to his talks with Putin on Tuesday.
“Thousands of young soldiers, and others, are being killed. Each week brings 2,500 soldier deaths, from both sides, and it must end NOW. I look very much forward to the call with President Putin.”
Trump confirmed over the weekend that the leaders planned on discussing a cease-fire between Ukraine and Russia.
Trump said on Sunday the talks would involve land and power plants, adding that they had already discussed dividing assets between the two countries.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also told reporters on Monday that talks would cover some land and other assets.
“There’s a power plant that is on the border of Russia and Ukraine that was up for discussion with the Ukrainians, and he will address it in his call with Putin tomorrow,” Leavitt said.
Ukraine has agreed to a 30-day cease-fire with Russia following March 11 talks between Ukrainian and U.S. officials in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin in Moscow to discuss cease-fire terms on Thursday. Witkoff said he wouldn’t disclose Russia’s terms for a cease-fire but told CNN in an interview on Sunday that he and Putin had a positive and solution-based discussion.
Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Alexander Grushko, said on Monday that Moscow wants guarantees that NATO will not accept Kyiv’s membership in the security alliance.
“We will demand that ironclad security guarantees become part of this agreement,” Grushko told Russian media outlet Izvestia. “Part of these guarantees should be the neutral status of Ukraine, the refusal of NATO countries to accept it into the alliance.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had previously insisted that any peace deal must include security guarantees to ensure Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against potential future Russian attacks.
