The phone call between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump is scheduled for today between 16 and 18 hours of Moscow, therefore between 14 and 16 Italians: the spokesman for Putin, Dmitri Peskov, stated by agencies Russian.
“The leaders will speak how much they deem appropriate,” said Peskov, adding that the Kremlin will choose after the format to announce the results of the telephone conversation “based on the results of the conversation”.
Tass reports it. “I will talk to Putin tomorrow morning (Tuesday 18 March editor’s note),” Donald Trump said yesterday on his social truth: “Many elements of the final agreement have been agreed, but a lot still remains to be done. Thousands of young soldiers are killed. Each week he brings 2,500 deaths among the soldiers, from both sides, and this must end now. I look forward to talking to Putin”.
“Good chances of putting an end to this war”
“We have excellent chances of putting an end to this war,” said the American president aboard the Air Force One by flaunting optimism despite the leader of the Kremlin has not yet dissolved the reserve on the ceased the fire of a month proposed by the United States and already accepted by Volodymyr Zelensky. Indeed, Putin has so far held back, outlining a series of conditions, including the suspension of the rearmament of Ukraine and the western military aid. “We worked a lot on the weekend,” explained The Donald who spoke of “progress” in negotiations. The Karoline Leavitt spokesman reiterated that “we are a few steps away” from an agreement. “We have never been closer to the peace than we are at this moment: we are at the last 10 IARDE. And the president, as you know, is determined to reach an agreement”, also pushing himself – according to some sources in Semafor – until the recognition of the Russian Crimea.
The Kremlin confirmed the call between the two leaders but did not reveal any detail on the agenda. “The conversation is in fact under preparation but in our opinion, of course, a conversation between two presidents is not subject to priori to any significant discussion. Therefore, we will not do it,” said the spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “We will talk about lands, which as you know are very different from how they were before the war, and we will talk about electrical plants,” said Commander-in-Chief responding to a question on the “concessions” necessary to get to the agreement. Just this will be the most difficult knot to dissolve. If on the one hand Zelensky continues to reiterate that the sovereignty and integrity of his country are not negotiable, on the other side Putin has placed the withdrawal of Kiev’s troops from all four regions conquered militarily and illegally annexed – Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzia – as a condition for peace. And then there is the question of the Zaporizhzia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe now controlled by Russia. It is likely that Trump refers precisely to the strategic system when he said he had “said a lot with Russia and Ukraine” to “divide certain assets”.
After the disastrous meeting in the oval study, the Ukrainian leader accepted the idea of having to give in to some points but continues to press for long -term safety insurance, including the strengthening of his army. “It is an immutable priority and on this issue we cannot go back. The defense and safety forces of Ukraine, the industrial defense complex and the most level interaction with the partners constitute the foundation of our independence”, wrote on Telegram after a meeting with his defense minister, Rustem Umerov, and the new Chief of General Staff, General Andriy Gnatov. Set, at least for the duration of the Trump presidency, the Ukrainian dream of entering the NATO Zelensky can still count on the support of the European Union, Great Britain and Canada who are working together to build a defensive umbrella for Kiev and ensure that Russia is committed to lasting peace. The Canadian premier spoke on the weekend with the Ukrainian president and invited him to the top of the G7 in Alberta next June.
Meanwhile, in view of the interview with Putin, the Trump administration has announced the withdrawal from the international body established in 2023 by the European Union to investigate the leaders responsible for the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, including Russian President. This is the last of a series of decisions that indicate the progressive rapprochement of Washington in Moscow, after dismantling on the weekend of Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. It is no coincidence that the Kremlin has welcomed the decision to freeze the loans of the American government for the broadcasters that spokesman Peskov has boiled as “propaganda media, purely propaganda”.