Trump hails ‘productive’ talks with Putin, says Russia’s war with Ukraine could end

WASHINGTON/MOSCOW – US President Donald Trump said on March 14 there is a “very good chance” the war between Russia and Ukraine can end after “productive” discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 13.

“We had very good and productive discussions with President Vladimir Putin of Russia yesterday, and there is a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end,” Mr Trump said in a Truth Social post, adding that he had requested that Mr Putin spare the lives of “completely surrounded” Ukrainian troops.

US envoy Steve Witkoff had a long meeting with Mr Putin in Moscow on March 13, a source briefed on the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

The Truth Social post did not say whether Mr Trump and Mr Putin had spoken to each other.

However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Mr Putin had used the meeting to convey “signals” to Mr Trump through Mr Witkoff.

He said Russia and the US would work out the timing of a phone call between their presidents once Mr Witkoff had briefed Mr Trump.

The US President has said he wants Moscow and Kyiv to agree to pause fighting in a conflict which he warned has the potential to spiral into World War III.

On March 14, he pressed Russia to sign and complete “a ceasefire and final agreement”, saying in a post on his private social media platform that he would extract the US from what he called a “real ‘mess’ with Russia”.

Mr Putin said on March 13 that he supported Mr Trump’s ceasefire proposal in principle, but that fighting could not be paused until a number of crucial conditions were worked out.

Kyiv has already accepted the proposal.

In a post on X on March 14, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticised Russia for “deliberately setting conditions that only complicate and drag out the process”.

Mr Putin has said he wants Ukraine to drop its ambitions to join Nato, Russia to control the entirety of the four Ukrainian regions it has claimed as its own, and the size of the Ukrainian army to be limited.

He has also made clear he wants Western sanctions eased and a presidential election to be held in Ukraine, which Kyiv says is premature while martial law remains in force.

Mr Peskov played down US media reports suggesting that Russian officials had told their US counterparts they did not want Mr Trump’s Russia-Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg to be involved in top-level discussions aimed at ending the war.

“It would probably be absurd to think that the Russian side could meddle in an internal American matter. We do not have the slightest intention to do that,” Mr Peskov said.

“It is their decision whom to appoint, whom not to appoint, and so on,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Group of Seven (G-7) ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US, along with the European Union, had convened in Canada and reached a deal on a joint statement to back Ukraine on March 14.

“G-7 members reaffirmed their unwavering support for Ukraine in defending its territorial integrity, and right to exist, and its freedom, sovereignty and independence,” the group of powerful democracies said in the final statement.

An earlier text referring to the need for security guarantees to ensure a truce was replaced by “assurances”, but they did warn Moscow to follow Kyiv in agreeing to the ceasefire or face further sanctions, including oil price caps.

The West and Ukraine describe Russia’s 2022 invasion as an imperial-style land grab and have repeatedly vowed to defeat Russian forces, which control nearly a fifth of Ukraine’s territory and have been edging forward since mid-2024.

Mr Putin portrays the conflict as part of an existential battle with a declining and decadent West, which he says humiliated Russia after the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 by enlarging the Nato military alliance and encroaching on what he considers Moscow’s sphere of influence, including Ukraine.

European powers have been deeply concerned that Mr Trump could be turning his back on Europe for some sort of grand bargain with Mr Putin that could include China, oil prices, cooperation in the Middle East and Ukraine.

Mr Trump said his administration has been discussing what land Ukraine would keep or lose under any settlement, as well as the future of a large power plant.

He did not name it but was likely referring to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia facility in Ukraine, Europe’s largest nuclear plant. The two sides have accused each other of risking an accident at the plant with their actions.

Any delay in agreeing on a ceasefire could give Russia more time to push the last Ukrainian forces out of its western Kursk region.

Russia in recent days has pressed a lightning offensive in Kursk against Ukrainian forces, which entered in August 2024 in a bid to divert forces from eastern Ukraine, gain a bargaining chip and embarrass Mr Putin.

The Russian leader wondered how a ceasefire would affect the situation in Kursk.

“If we stop hostilities for 30 days, what does that mean? That everyone who is there will leave without a fight?” REUTERS