Brussels – International diplomacy continues to race to try to end the Ukraine war. Over the past few days, Donald Trump spoke to his counterparts Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky on the phone. The US president is trying to bring both to the negotiating table and is preparing a meeting between the various negotiating teams in Saudi Arabia to define the technical aspects of the ceasefire. However, for now, only Kyiv seems to be in line with Washington, while Moscow has not given any significant signs of openness.
After the long phone call with Vladimir Putin on Wednesday (the second in two months), Donald Trump picked up the phone again yesterday (March 19) to update Volodymyr Zelensky on where negotiations stand and to renew US support for Ukraine. The last confrontation between the two — in late February in the Oval Office — did not end well at all.
On the other hand, yesterday’s was a “very good call,” according to the tycoon, who signaled to have reached a shared understanding with his counterpart on a few firm points. First, on the continuation of supplies: Washington pledged to send Kyiv new antiaircraft batteries and not to discontinue (again) the sharing of intelligence, in effect contravening that one of the conditions set by the Kremlin as a “fundamental condition” for agreeing to a truce.
Zelensky (who described the conversation as “perhaps the most productive one we’ve ever had“) then said he was willing to implement the proposal currently on the table – the partial ceasefire agreed to by Trump and Putin the day before yesterday, which essentially waters down the total truce discussed last week in Jeddah by the Ukrainians and the US – even if there have been several exchanges of airstrikes between the Federation and the former Soviet republic in recent hours.
After hearing from his counterpart, the Ukrainian leader feels so optimistic that he claims that “under American leadership,” peace can be achieved “within this year.” Meanwhile, yesterday afternoon, the previously announced prisoner exchange occurred: 175 Russian soldiers against as many Ukrainians, plus 22 seriously wounded Kyiv soldiers.
Another condition Putin appeared to set yesterday involved Ukraine’s recognition of the occupied regions as formally part of the territory of the Federation. Zelensky deemed the request inadmissible, claiming to have received support from Washington on this sensitive issue.
The phone call also revealed the willingness to have teams of experts from the three countries gather in Saudi Arabia for technical meetings on the ceasefire implementation. However, whether the talks will take place as a trio or whether the US team will dialogue separately with those in Kyiv and Moscow is unclear. The bone of contention is reportedly the definition of which facilities to spare from attacks: the US and Ukrainians would like to extend the agreement to energy and civilian infrastructure (ports, rail arteries, etc.), while the Russians aim to limit the scope to energy infrastructure only.
Moreover, the Ukrainian and US presidents agreed on an evolution of the infamous critical raw materials deal, which fell through after the public argument at the White House. Trump suggested that the US may take responsibility for managing Ukrainian nuclear power plants, starting with Zaporizhzhia, the largest in the country and Europe, but which is currently under Russian occupation. “American ownership of those facilities could be the best protection for that infrastructure,” he added and would provide a solid security guarantee against new aggression from Moscow.
The fate of the Ukrainian conflict remains high on the European political agenda. Due to a discussion on the issue, Zelensky is remotely connected to the summit that opened, bringing the leaders of the 27 member states together in Brussels just two weeks after the extraordinary summit on March 6. At the same time, the Chiefs of Staff of the 30 countries that make up the coalition of the willing — the initiative led by France and the United Kingdom to send a peacekeeping force to the former Soviet republic as soon as there is a truce — are meeting in London.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
