 "Russian President Vladimir Putin, Reuters")
US President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin are set to hold a phone call tomorrow (March 18).
The development was confirmed by US envoy Steve Witkoff, who met Putin last week.
“I expect that there will be a call with both presidents this week, and we’re also continuing to engage and have conversation with the Ukrainians,” said Witkoff. He said the talk between Trump and Putin would be “really good and positive.”
Trump too confirmed the call while talking to the press.
“I’ll be speaking to President Putin on Tuesday. A lot of work’s been done over the weekend,” Trump said.
Trump’s statement came after Kyiv agreed to a US-brokered 30-day ceasefire during negotiations in Saudi Arabia.
But what does Putin want out of the ceasefire? What do experts say?
Let’s take a closer look:
What does Putin want?
Putin is playing coy in public.
As per The Guardian, Putin has said he is in favour of a truce.
However, he has said several details need to be ironed out before an agreement can be reached.
Putin has said he is open to the US’ proposed 30-day ceasefire deal.
But Putin has claimed that such an agreement would benefit primarily Ukraine, as Russian forces were “advancing” in many areas.
The proposal came as Russia – which occupies swathes of southern and eastern Ukraine – has the momentum in some areas of the front.
It has pushed out Ukrainian forces from parts of its Kursk region, where Kyiv hopes to hold onto Russian territory as a potential bargaining chip in any future negotiations.
Putin said he wanted to discuss Moscow’s concerns with Trump in a phone call.
BBC quoted Putin as saying that questions about the deal remain unanswered.
“The idea is right - and we support it - but there are questions that we need to discuss. “A ceasefire should lead to “an enduring peace and remove the root causes of this crisis,” he added.
“We need to negotiate with our American colleagues and partners,” he said. “Maybe I’ll have a call with Donald Trump.”
“It will be good for the Ukrainian side to achieve a 30-day ceasefire.
“We are in favour of it, but there are nuances.”
Putin during the Thursday press conference raised several questions – but offered no answers.
“How will those 30 days be used? For Ukraine to mobilise? Rearm? Train people? Or none of that? Then a question - how will that be controlled? Who will give the order to end the fighting? At what cost? Who decides who has broken any possible ceasefire, over 2,000km? All those questions need meticulous work from both sides. Who polices it?”
Putin on Friday demanded that Ukrainian troops in Kursk region lay down their arms.
“We have reviewed today’s statement by US President Trump…we emphasize that Ukrainian militants have committed numerous crimes against civilians in the incursion zone,” Putin said.
“I want to emphasize that if they lay down their arms and surrender, their lives will be guaranteed, and they will be treated with dignity in accordance with international law and the laws of the Russian Federation,” Putin said.
“In this context, for President Trump’s call to be effectively implemented, the Ukrainian military-political leadership must issue the appropriate order to their military units to lay down arms and surrender,” he added.
As per BBC, Russian officials have said they want a guarantee that Ukraine will not join Nato as part of any deal.
“We will demand that ironclad security guarantees become part of this agreement,” Alexander Grushko told Russian media outlet Izvestia. “Part of these guarantees should be the neutral status of Ukraine, the refusal of Nato countries to accept it into the alliance,” he said.
What are the Americans and Ukrainians saying?
The Guardian quoted Witkoff as saying that Putin “accepts Trump’s philosophy” when it comes to the ceasefire.
Witkoff called talks with the Russian president “positive” and “solution-based.”
Witkoff said US envoys “had narrowed the differences” between the two sides.
He said he and Trump would talk about “how to narrow the differences even further.”
He said talks included Ukraine, Russia and European stakeholder nations such as France, Britain, Norway and Finland and other elements “that would be encompassed in a ceasefire.”
Trump “is involved with every important decision here and I expect that there will be a call between the [US and Russian] presidents this week,” Witkoff had said.
BBC last week quoted Trump as saying that he would ‘love’ to meet Putin.
Trump added that he hoped Putin “do the right thing.”
“We’d like to see a ceasefire from Russia,” Trump said.
“We’ve been discussing with Ukraine land and pieces of land that would be kept and lost, and all of the other elements of a final agreement,” Trump added. “A lot of the details of a final agreement have actually been discussed.”
“Everybody knows what the answer to that is,” Trump said on Ukraine joining Nato.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told CBS a final peace deal would “involve a lot of hard work, concessions from both Russia and Ukraine,” and that it would be difficult to even begin those negotiations “as long as they’re shooting at each other.”
The Guardian quoted Trump’s National Security Advisor Mike Waltz as saying there would be “some type of territory for future security guarantees, the future status of Ukraine” – even as he called permanent Nato membership for Ukraine “incredibly unlikely”.
Are “we going to drive every Russian off of every inch of Ukrainian soil, including Crimea?” Waltz asked.
“We can talk about what’s right and wrong. And we also have to talk about the reality of the situation on the ground. And that’s what we are doing through diplomacy, through shuttle diplomacy, through proximity talks,” Waltz said.
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday accused the Kremlin of not wanting to end the war.
He warned that Moscow wanted to first “improve their situation on the battlefield” before agreeing to any ceasefire.
BBC quoted Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy as saying that Putin isn’t ‘saying no directly’ but is ‘preparing a rejection in practice.’
“Putin, of course, is afraid to tell President Trump directly that he wants to continue this war, wants to kill Ukrainians,” Zelenskyy added.
Putin set so many pre-conditions “that nothing will work out at all,” Zelenskyy added.
The Russian leader had set so many pre-conditions “that nothing will work out at all”, Zelenskyy said.
The Ukrainian president claimed Russia had bombarded his country over the past week.
“This is not what someone who wants a quick end to the war does, so we have to jointly pressure Russia to force it to stop its aggression,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.
On Sunday, Zelenskyy announced the chief of general staff of the armed forces, Anatoliy Bargylevych, would be replaced by Andriy Gnatov.
Gnatov has been tasked with increasing efficiency in the armed forces.
“He is a combat guy,” Zelenskyy was quoted as saying by The Guardian. “His task is to bring more combat experience, the experience of our brigades in planning operations, defensive and offensive, as well as more active development of the corps system,” he added.
What do experts say?
A piece in BBC noted that the two sides are completely split.
“Ukraine wants a two-stage process: a quick ceasefire and then talks about a longer-term settlement. Russia believes you cannot separate the two processes and all the issues should be decided in a single deal. Both sides seem content to argue their differences,” the piece argued.
The piece added that Kyiv thinks it can pile the pressure on Moscow.
Moscow, on the other hand, thinks it can press its points about Nato expansion and Ukraine’s sovereignty.
“But this presents a problem for Donald Trump. He has made it clear he wants a quick result, ending the fighting in days. And right now, Putin does not appear to want to play ball,” the piece noted.
An article in The Atlantic Council stated that Putin’s evasive response makes “any meaningful progress unlikely.”
“Putin knows that the invasion of Ukraine will define his entire reign and decide the future fate of the Russian Federation. While he may be prepared to discuss a strategic pause in hostilities if ceasefire terms can be made to favour Moscow, he will never accept the existence of a separate and genuinely independent Ukrainian state on Russia’s border,” the piece argued.
The article contended that Western leaders have erred when eyeing Putin through their own point
“After three years of total war in the heart of Europe, there is no longer any excuse for such wishful thinking. Putin has bet everything on the destruction of Ukraine and is confident he will be judged favorably by the tribunal of history. Unless he is deterred by the overwhelming might of the collective West, he will continue to wage war against Ukraine until he achieves his chilling goal,” the piece concluded.
With inputs from agencies