Trump unveils date for next call with Putin

US President Donald Trump has announced that he expects to hold a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Tuesday to discuss bilateral ties and the prospects of a peace agreement in the ongoing Ukraine conflict.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump said he plans to speak with Putin on March 18, according to Reuters reporter Jeff Mason.

“We will see if we have something to announce maybe by Tuesday. I will be speaking to President Putin on Tuesday. A lot of work’s been done over the weekend. We want to see if we can bring that war to an end. We will be talking about land. We will be talking about power plants,” Trump said as cited by journalist Yashar Ali.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff previously stated that Trump and Putin were expected to hold a telephone conversation later this week to discuss efforts toward establishing a ceasefire in the Ukraine conflict. Witkoff, who recently met with Putin in Moscow, described the discussions as “positive” and indicated that both Russian and Ukrainian parties are now “a lot closer” in negotiations.

“I expect that there’ll be a call with both presidents this week, and we’re also continuing to engage and have conversations with the Ukrainians,” Witkoff said.

On Saturday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a separate phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, during which the two top diplomats discussed further steps to reestablish direct communication between their countries.

The first formal telephone conversation between the Russian and US leaders in years took place on February 12, 2025. It was followed by high-level talks in Saudi Arabia on February 18, where Washington and Moscow agreed to assign teams to work on resolving the Ukraine conflict, restoring embassy operations, and addressing other points of contention in bilateral relations. Since then, additional discussions have been held in Istanbul, focusing on diplomatic funding and a proposal from Moscow to reinstate direct flights.

Following negotiations in Jeddah last week, Ukraine agreed to a 30-day ceasefire. Shortly after, Witkoff traveled to Moscow on Thursday to present Putin with the details of the proposal.

The Russian head of state welcomed the ceasefire in principle but insisted on addressing several key issues first, including the fate of Ukrainian troops encircled in Russia’s Kursk Region. While the details of Witkoff’s meeting with Putin have not been made public, Trump hinted at progress, stating that the White House had received “some pretty good news” regarding the ceasefire efforts and that US-Russia meetings over the past several days had been “very productive.”