Presidents Trump and Putin just had an important phone call

US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had an important phone call on the evening of March 18 (Vietnam time).

Reuters quoted a social media post by Mr. Dan Scavino, Deputy Chief of Staff of the White House, saying that the phone call between Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin began at 10:00 a.m. on March 18, US time (ie 9:00 p.m. the same day, Vietnam time). "The call went well," Mr. Scavino wrote.

Before the phone call between the two presidents, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on March 18 that the two Russian and US leaders would discuss the issue of normalizing relations between the two countries and the situation in Ukraine, TASS reported.

“Some discussions between Moscow and Washington have already taken place. US special envoy Steve Witkoff came to Moscow (last week) and there were also talks in Istanbul (Türkiye). So there are some understandings. However, there are still many issues on the agenda, including the normalization of bilateral relations and the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict. The two presidents will discuss all these issues,” Peskov said.

US President Donald Trump (left) and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin

Bloomberg on March 18 quoted informed sources as saying that during a meeting with the US delegation last week, Mr. Putin stated that the US must stop providing weapons to Ukraine as a precondition for a ceasefire agreement. Moscow and Washington did not respond to this information.

On March 17, President Trump wrote on the social network Truth Social that many elements of the “final agreement” had been agreed upon, but much remained to be done. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on March 17 that Washington had received a commitment from Ukraine. “Ukraine has agreed to a ceasefire and we can talk about how to end the conflict. Now we have to get the same from Russia,” Mr. Rubio said.

President Trump is now trying to win support from his counterpart Putin for a ceasefire proposal, as Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in intense airstrikes over the past few days, and Russia has moved closer to ousting Ukrainian forces from the Kursk region in western Russia.

US President Donald Trump shakes hands with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in 2018

Russian President Putin affirmed that Moscow will support the US proposals to end the conflict, but with the condition that Russia recognizes control of four eastern provinces of Ukraine, Ukraine is not allowed to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), reduces the size of the Ukrainian army, withdraws troops from conflict areas, while the West lifts international sanctions against Russia.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hai-tong-thong-trump-va-putin-vua-co-cuoc-dien-dam-quan-trong-185250318185622024.htm