March 17 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday night he plans to speak with President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday as their countries negotiate a cease-fire to the war in Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said he thinks “we’re doing pretty well” in negotiations with Russia and that “a lot of work’s been done over the weekend.
“We’ll see if we have something to announce,” he said. “Maybe on Tuesday.”
Asked what concessions were under discussion, he said power plants and land.
The Trump administration has been pushing to swiftly end the three-year-old war, which has attracted criticism for capitulating to Russia and raised concerns in Europe over the future of U.S. support for allied nations and the potential encouragement of Kremlin aggression.
Ukraine last week said it had accepted a 30-day cease-fire deal proposed by the United States. Russia has yet to agree to the deal.
On Thursday, Putin said he agreed in essence with a cease-fire but called for several concessions that undercut the foundation of the proposed agreement, including prohibiting Kyiv from rearming its forces and receiving weaponry from allies, without stating that Moscow would agree to the same principles.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine accused Putin of setting the table to reject the proposal in order to drag out the war.
On Sunday, in his nightly address, Zelensky said Russia “stole almost another week — a week of war that only Russia wants.”
“We will do everything to further intensify diplomacy,” he said. “We will do everything to make diplomacy effective. But every day now is about defending our independence, our state and our people. We must remember — it is the support of our army, all our defense and security forces and our state that determines everything.”
Russia occupies about 20% of Ukraine, including Crimea, which it illegally annexed in 2014.
U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said Sunday in an interview with ABC News without getting into specifics that the deal would see Ukraine give out some territory in exchange for some form of security guarantees.
“This is going to be some type of territory for future security guarantees,” he said.
White House envoy Steve Witkoff, who has been involved in the negotiations, told CNN on Sunday that Trump expects a deal “in the coming weeks.”
“The president uses the timeframe weeks, and I don’t disagree with him. I am really hopeful that we’re going to see some real progress here,” he said.