Trump Hails ‘Great’ Call with Russia’s Putin Amid Ceasefire Efforts
President Donald Trump described his recent phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin as “great,” reiterating his desire to broker a ceasefire in the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, Fox News reports.
The nearly two-hour conversation took place Tuesday, as Trump says Ukrainian officials agreed to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire earlier in March.
“We talked about a lot of things — toward getting it to peace, and we talked about other things also,” Trump told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham in an exclusive interview.
Shortly after the call, Putin announced that Moscow would only halt strikes against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for 30 days.
Trump insisted that the war would never have occurred under his presidency.
“And right now, you have a lot of guns pointing at each other, and a ceasefire without going a little bit further would have been tough. Russia has the advantage,” he stated.
He also alluded to reports of Russian forces encircling Ukrainian soldiers:
“As you know, they have encircled about 2,500 soldiers. They are nicely encircled and that’s not good, and we want to get it over with.”
The president warned of the potential for a wider conflict if the situation escalates:
“There are no Americans involved. There could be if we end up in World War III over this, which is so ridiculous — but, you know, strange things happen.”
According to a statement from the Kremlin, Putin and Trump discussed a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine, scheduled for Wednesday, with each side releasing 175 individuals. The Kremlin also indicated that a full ceasefire would require a halt to mobilization, rearmament, and foreign military aid to Ukraine.
