US President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin. Mandel Ngan, AFP/Grigory Sysoyev, Sputnik via AFP

US President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin.

USA-RUSSIA

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1742139500481031625_trump putin.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="US President Donald Trump and Russia&#x27;s President Vladimir Putin. Mandel Ngan, AFP/Grigory Sysoyev, Sputnik via AFP"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">US President Donald Trump and Russia&#x27;s President Vladimir Putin. <em>Mandel Ngan, AFP/Grigory Sysoyev, Sputnik via AFP</em></span></span></span></div><p>WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are expected to speak this week, officials said on Sunday, as Washington and Kyiv&#x27;s European allies press Moscow to accept a ceasefire in the three-year war.</p><p>The United States this week proposed a halt in fighting in the war after talks in Saudi Arabia, with Kyiv accepting the proposal.</p><p>Putin however has given no clear answer, instead listing a string of conditions and raising &quot;serious questions&quot; over the proposition.</p><p>Trump&#x27;s envoy for the conflict, Steve Witkoff, who met for several hours with Putin days ago, told CNN in a televised interview that he thinks &quot;the two presidents are going to have a really good and positive discussion this week.&quot;</p><p>Earlier Moscow said that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and that the pair had discussed &quot;concrete aspects of the implementation of understandings&quot; at a US-Russia summit in Saudi Arabia last month.</p><p>Ukraine&#x27;s Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday accused the Kremlin of not wanting to end the war and warned that Moscow wanted to first &quot;improve their situation on the battlefield&quot; before agreeing to any ceasefire.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/3/15/ukraine-s-zelenskiy-says-efforts-moving-towards-end-of-war-1852">READ: Ukraine&#x27;s Zelenskiy says efforts moving towards end of war</a></div><p>The February Riyadh gathering was the first high-level meeting between the United States and Russia since Moscow launched its invasion in February 2022.</p><p>&quot;Sergei Lavrov and Marco Rubio agreed to remain in contact,&quot; the Russian foreign ministry said, with no mention of the US-suggested ceasefire.</p><p>State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said Saturday that the pair had &quot;discussed the next steps&quot; on Ukraine.</p><p>She also said Rubio and Lavrov &quot;agreed to continue working towards restoring communication between the United States and Russia&quot;.</p><p>The Lavrov-Rubio call came hours after the UK hosted a virtual summit on Ukraine, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer accusing Putin of &quot;dragging his feet&quot; on the ceasefire.</p><p>&quot;The &#x27;yes, but&#x27; from Russia is not good enough,&quot; Starmer said, calling for a stop to the &quot;barbaric attacks on Ukraine once and for all&quot;.</p><p>Kyiv the next day said Russia launched 90 Iranian-made Shahed drones onto nine Ukrainian regions.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/3/14/russia-committed-crimes-against-humanity-in-ukraine-un-probe-0039">READ: Russia &#x27;committed crimes against humanity&#x27; in Ukraine -- UN probe</a></div><div><strong>- Zelensky says Putin &#x27;lying&#x27; -</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1g-qWMJhNKE?autoplay=1&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>In his reaction to the ceasefire earlier this week, Putin said the initiative would benefit primarily Ukraine and not Russian forces, who he said are &quot;advancing&quot; in many areas.</p><p>He raised &quot;serious questions&quot; over the initiative.</p><p>The proposal came as Russia -- which occupies swathes of southern and eastern Ukraine -- has had momentum in some areas of the front.</p><p>It has ousted 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.</p><p>Putin said he wanted to discuss Moscow&#x27;s concerns with Trump in a phone call.</p><p>Zelensky said Saturday that by not agreeing to the ceasefire, Putin was also going against Trump -- who has made overtures towards Russia -- and accused Moscow of trying to find ways not to end the war.</p><p>He accused Putin of &quot;lying about how a ceasefire is supposedly too complicated&quot;.</p><p>Ukraine said Sunday that one person was killed by a Russian drone strike on the city of Izyum -- in the Kharkiv region, which fell to Russia at the start of its Ukraine invasion before being retaken by Kyiv&#x27;s forces.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>The United States this week proposed a halt in fighting in the war after talks in Saudi Arabia, with Kyiv accepting the proposal.</p>

The United States this week proposed a halt in fighting in the war after talks in Saudi Arabia, with Kyiv accepting the proposal.

Trump, Putin to discuss Ukraine this week | ABS-CBN

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Trump, Putin to discuss Ukraine this week

Trump, Putin to discuss Ukraine this week

Agence France-Presse

Published Mar 17, 2025 12:10 AM PHT

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United States

Russia

Ukraine

diplomacy

Donald Trump

Vladimir Putin

Volodymyr Zelensky

Marco Rubio

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