US President Donald Trump said he intends to hold a phone conversation with Vladimir Putin on March 18. “A lot of work was done over the weekend. 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 (quoted by Reuters). He said he wants to discuss with Putin the occupied territories of Ukraine, as well as the fate of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. “I think a lot of this is already being discussed by both sides, Ukraine and Russia. We’re already talking about it, about the division of certain assets,” Trump noted.
On the eve of the American president’s special representative for the Middle East Steve Witkoff said that Trump and Putin could have a “good and positive discussion” this week. Prior to that, Witkoff personally met with the Russian “president” in the Kremlin. He said the talks lasted three to four hours and focused on finding options for resolving the military conflict in Ukraine. Witkoff noted that the positions of the parties on this issue are converging and he expects a truce to be reached within a few weeks. At the same time, Trump’s special envoy clarified that the territories under Moscow’s control would be part of the ceasefire discussion.
