US PRESIDENT Donald Trump said on March 14 there is a “very good chance” the war between Russia and Ukraine can end after “productive” discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 13.
“We had very good and productive discussions with President Vladimir Putin of Russia yesterday, and there is a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end,” Trump said in a Truth Social post, adding that he had requested that Mr Putin spare the lives of “completely surrounded” Ukrainian troops.
US envoy Steve Witkoff had a long meeting with Putin in Moscow on March 13, a source briefed on the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
The Truth Social post did not say whether Trump and Putin had spoken to each other.
However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had used the meeting to convey “signals” to Trump through Witkoff. He said Russia and the US would work out the timing of a phone call between their presidents once Witkoff had briefed Trump.
The US President has said he wants Moscow and Kyiv to agree to pause fighting in a conflict which he warned has the potential to spiral into World War III. On March 14, he pressed Russia to sign and complete “a ceasefire and final agreement”, saying in a post on his private social media platform that he would extract the US from what he called a “real ‘mess’ with Russia”.
Putin said on March 13 that he supported Trump’s ceasefire proposal in principle, but that fighting could not be paused until a number of crucial conditions were worked out.
Kyiv has already accepted the proposal.
In a post on X on March 14, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticised Russia for “deliberately setting conditions that only complicate and drag out the process”.
Putin has said he wants Ukraine to drop its ambitions to join Nato, Russia to control the entirety of the four Ukrainian regions it has claimed as its own, and the size of the Ukrainian army to be limited.
He has also made clear he wants Western sanctions eased and a presidential election to be held in Ukraine, which Kyiv says is premature while martial law remains in force. - March 15, 2025
