In Call With Trump, Putin Agrees To Pause Strikes On Ukraine's Energy Targets For 30 Days

Last Updated:March 18, 2025, 23:21 IST

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin discussed the US-backed 30-day truce proposal to halt the Ukraine war which entered its fourth year in 2025.

President Trump with Russian Counterpart Putin (Reuters/File)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to a 30-day pause on attacks against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as proposed by US President Donald Trump during their telephone call, which lasted more than two hours on Tuesday.

During the conversation, Trump put forward a proposal for the parties to the conflict to mutually refrain from attacks on energy infrastructure facilities for 30 days. Putin gave a positive response to this initiative and immediately gave the corresponding order to the Russian military.

According to Kremlin, Putin expressed gratitude to Trump for his desire to help achieve the noble goal of ending hostilities and human losses. The Russian President also declared his readiness to work together with his American partners to thoroughly explore possible ways of resolving the conflict but asserted that it should be “comprehensive, sustainable and long-term".

“And, of course, to take into account the absolute need to eliminate the root causes of the crisis, and Russia’s legitimate interests in the field of security," read the statement.

In the context of the US President’s initiative to introduce a 30-day ceasefire, the Russian side outlined a number of significant points regarding ensuring effective control over a possible ceasefire along the entire line of combat contact, the need to stop forced mobilization in Ukraine and rearm the Ukrainian Armed Forces. “Serious risks associated with the inability to negotiate of the Kyiv regime, which has repeatedly sabotaged and violated the agreements reached, were also noted. Attention was drawn to the barbaric terrorist crimes committed by Ukrainian militants against the civilian population of the Kursk region," the statement said.

Putin informed that on March 19, a prisoner exchange will be carried out between the Russian and Ukrainian sides – 175 for 175 people. In addition, as a gesture of goodwill, 23 seriously wounded Ukrainian servicemen who are being treated in Russian medical institutions will be transferred.

Dan Scavino, the Assistant to the President & White House Deputy Chief of Staff, earlier said the call is underway between both the leaders and the discussions were still in progress.

“The call is going well," Scavino had said in a post on social media site X one hour after the call began.

Scavino said that the call between both presidents began around 10:00am (local time).

After the call ended, Kremlin also said that the call went “very well", according to US broadcaster CNN.

During the conversation, both leaders are expected to discuss measures to restore peace in a manner that is agreeable to both sides, though the US had told Ukrainians that they are unlikely to get back all the land that was occupied by Russia during the course of the war. A report by the New York Times said that Trump and Putin did discuss how much territory Ukraine would lose.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed his skepticism about the truce talks and said that a halt to the war should be reached first and then Kyiv and Moscow can sit on the negotiating table to discuss territory. Following talks between Trump and Putin, the Ukrainian President said that Europe should be at the negotiating table.

Kyiv said it expected Moscow to “unconditionally" accept the ceasefire.

“It is time for Russia to show whether it really wants peace," Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said.

Zelenskyy has warned Putin does not want peace and is trying to achieve a better position militarily ahead of any halt in fighting.

The leaders spoke almost five weeks ago for the first time since Russia launched what it terms its “special military operation" in Ukraine in 2022. Both leaders held a lengthy phone call and after the phone call Trump had directed his national security team to “immediately" begin negotiations aimed at ending Russia’s war with Ukraine.

Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)

News world In Call With Trump, Putin Agrees To Pause Strikes On Ukraine's Energy Targets For 30 Days