Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will hold a phone conversation today to advance a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, aiming to end a war that, after three years, continues to devastate the battlefield and disrupt global stability, particularly in the energy sector and food security.
The mere fact that negotiations are taking place already represents a victory for Putin. Initially, the United States and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed a 30-day truce as a first step before launching diplomatic talks to establish the conditions for a permanent cessation of hostilities. However, Putin rejected this strategy and demanded a completely different approach.
The Russian leader insists that a ceasefire can only happen if a preliminary agreement is reached with the United States. He has presented a list of demands that will be difficult for Zelensky and most European countries to accept. Among them, he requires Ukraine to cede sovereignty over Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia—regions that Moscow unilaterally annexed in 2022, where Ukrainian resistance has prevented full control by the Russian military.
Trump, for his part, has shown a willingness to negotiate over these territories. “We will talk about land. A lot of land is very different from how it was before the war, as you know. We will also talk about power plants—that’s a big issue,” the former U.S. president said before his meeting with Putin.
On March 11, Ukraine accepted a 30-day ceasefire proposal from the United States during talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Zelensky thanked Trump for his intention to end the conflict, but at no point was territorial concession mentioned as a condition for peace. Additionally, the agreement between Washington and Kyiv states that any progress will depend on Russia’s reciprocity.
Beyond the issue of disputed territories, Trump and Putin will also discuss Ukraine’s security conditions for accepting the truce. Zelensky insists on the presence of peacekeeping forces from France and the United Kingdom to monitor the ceasefire, as well as continued military and intelligence support from the United States and NATO to deter any further Russian offensives.
Putin opposes the deployment of foreign troops in Ukraine and maintains his demand that Ukraine not join NATO, a stance Trump agrees with. However, both sides appear open to establishing a diplomatic mechanism to monitor the Ukraine-Russia border and prevent future conflicts.
Another key topic of discussion will be the exchange of prisoners of war and the repatriation of Ukrainian children forcibly taken to Russia—a humanitarian issue included in the Jeddah agreement.
“The delegations have also discussed the importance of humanitarian aid efforts as part of the peace process, particularly during the aforementioned ceasefire, including the exchange of prisoners of war, the release of detained civilians, and the return of forcibly relocated Ukrainian children,” states the agreement signed between the United States and Ukraine.
The conversation between Trump and Putin will be crucial in determining the future of the war and the real possibilities of reaching a peace agreement.
