Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will hold a highly-anticipated phone call Tuesday to discuss the Ukraine war, with Kyiv and its European allies demanding that Russia agree to an unconditional US-proposed ceasefire.
Washington and Moscow have expressed optimism about recent talks but it remains to be seen if Trump can convince Putin to agree to a US-proposed 30-day ceasefire, more than three years into Russia’s invasion.
Kyiv has agreed to halting fighting, but Putin instead set a string of conditions, with European countries criticising him for not committing to an immediate ceasefire.
Many in Europe worry Trump — who has for years expressed admiration for Russia — will cede to Putin’s demands.
The Kremlin said the call will take place “from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm Moscow time” (1300 to 1500 GMT) — giving, unusually, a precise time.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the leaders will discuss Ukraine and the “normalisation” of US-Russia ties, with Trump’s previous call to Putin ending the Kremlin chief’s isolation during the Ukraine invasion.
Kyiv urged Russia on Tuesday to accept to the ceasefire.
“It is time for Russia to show whether it really wants peace,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said. “We expect the Russian side to unconditionally agree to this proposal.”
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky has warned Putin does not want peace and is trying to achieve a better position militarily ahead of any halt in fighting.
Putin has said that a ceasefire only benefits Kyiv and Moscow hinted Tuesday that it was sceptical.
“It’s been a week since the moment of the (ceasefire) proposal,” Putin aide Yuri Ushakov told the Kommersant newspaper.
“And what do we see? The biggest Ukrainian drone attack on Russian territory in history,” he said, referring to an attack on the Moscow region last week.
But Ushakov added that “we are not losing hope”, adding: “They (Putin and Trump) need to speak.”
Russia has attacked Ukraine with near daily barrages of drones and missiles for more than three years, occupying swathes of southern and eastern Ukraine and pressing a grinding advance in recent months.
‘Land and power plants’
Ukraine said Russia attacked with 137 drones ahead of the call, with Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko saying some debris fell on a school in the capital.
Trump said Monday he would discuss issues of “land” and “power plants” with Putin — a likely reference to the Moscow-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe’s largest that fell to Russia in the first days of its invasion.
He said both sides had already discussed “a lot” and that the pair will also talk about “dividing up certain assets.”
The United States has made clear that Ukraine will likely have to cede territory in any deal, with European countries worried Trump will force Kyiv into an unfair agreement.
Zelensky said over the weekend that any discussions over territory should take place at the negotiating table only after a ceasefire.
Trump was intent on delivering on an election pledge to end fighting in Ukraine, blaming his predecessor Joe Biden’s policy on Russia for fuelling the war.
“It must end NOW,” he said on the Truth Social network late on Monday.
‘Only solution’
In addition to occupying around a fifth of Ukraine, Kyiv says Russia has “stolen” thousands of Ukrainian children taken to Russian territory since the invasion.
A presidential advisor, Daria Zarivna, said ahead of the talks that “at least 744,000 (children) were forcibly transferred” to Russia, with Kyiv seeking their return.
As Washington and Moscow prepared for the talks, authorities in Russia’s Kursk region were evacuating several hundred civilians from areas retaken from Ukraine.
The Kremlin has hailed Moscow’s quick offensive there last week as a major success, with Putin calling for Ukrainian soldiers to surrender — or be killed.
Russian pensioner Olga Shkuratova’s husband was killed last week during fighting as Russia ousted Ukrainian troops from her village of Goncharovka.
“A shell hit. Everything was blown apart in a second. No house, no garage, no barn,” the 62-year-old told AFP as she was taken to safety by volunteers.
She buried him with the help of a neighbour in the couple’s garden.
Many in Russia have placed their hopes in Trump, hoping he can help end the fighting.
“Peace negotiations… This is the only solution,” Yelena Sukhareva, a volunteer helping evacuations said.
