Trump to discuss with Putin key topics on ending war in Ukraine on Tuesday

US President Donald Trump said he plans to contact Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, March 18, to discuss ending the war in Ukraine

Reuters and the New York Times reported this.

The US President made the corresponding announcement during a conversation with journalists on Air Force One, which was flying from Florida to Washington.

He said "a lot of work" was done over the weekend.

"We'll see if we have something to announce, maybe by Tuesday. I will talk to President Putin on Tuesday," Trump said.

As the US President noted, the American side now wants to "see if we can end this war."

He also outlined the main topics of his upcoming conversation with Putin. Trump said that the issues of territory and the power plant will be part of the conversation about ending the Russian-Ukrainian war.

He did not specify which territories he was referring to – Ukrainian lands temporarily occupied by Russian invaders, or areas of the Kursk region controlled by the Ukrainian Defense Forces.

In this case, it was evident that he was referring to the Zaporizhzhia NPP, which Russian invaders seized in 2022.

"We will talk about land. We will talk about power plants. This is a big issue. But I think we have already discussed a lot of this on both sides — Ukraine and Russia," Trump said.

He also called it "the distribution of certain assets."

It is worth adding that on Sunday, US President's special envoy Witkoff said a conversation between Donald Trump and Russian dictator Putin is expected this week.

The special envoy also added that the situation with the war in Ukraine is challenging, but, according to him, the US is still closing the gap between the two sides.

"There are still many issues to discuss, but I think the two presidents will have a really good and constructive conversation this week," he said.

For reference:

It should be noted that during a recent meeting in Saudi Arabia, delegations from Ukraine and the United States discussed the possibility of a 30-day comprehensive ceasefire with Russia, as proposed by the American side. While Ukraine agreed to consider the initiative, they cautioned that Russia might violate the ceasefire terms.

US President's special representative Steve Witkoff visited Moscow last week to discuss the proposal. However, Putin did not give a final answer regarding the ceasefire. Instead, the Kremlin head said that Ukraine could use this time to rearm. Official Moscow noted that this was the "signal" conveyed to the States.

European leaders also expressed doubts that Russia would adhere to the ceasefire.

As White House National Security Advisor Michael Waltz previously said, the agreement between Ukraine and the Russian Federation may include a mechanism for exchanging territories for security guarantees. At the same time, he said Ukraine's membership in NATO is very unlikely.

It should be added that, according to experts from the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Putin will not abandon a further attempt to occupy Ukraine after the ceasefire.

At the same time, as Reuters reports, citing informed sources, Russia has presented the United States with its list of demands for agreeing to end the war against Ukraine and reset relations with Washington. It is currently unknown what exactly Moscow has included in the list and whether it is ready to hold peace talks with Kyiv before the demands are accepted.

However, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the White House administration has a plan to end the war in Ukraine that includes two stages.