Trump and Putin stress improving U.S.-Russia relations in phone call

Washington — President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke Tuesday in a lengthy phone call, in which the White House and the Kremlin said they agreed to begin negotiations “immediately” to achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine. 

The call lasted at least 90 minutes, as indicated by the timing of White House updates, but the exact duration hasn’t been disclosed yet. The conversation between the two leaders comes as the U.S. tries to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine three years after Russia’s invasion.

A Russian readout of the call from the Kremlin said a key condition for working toward a resolution to the conflict “should be the complete cessation of foreign military aid and the provision of intelligence information to Kyiv.” The White House readout did not contain that information, or Mr. Trump’s response. 

“Today, President Trump and President Putin spoke about the need for peace and a ceasefire in the Ukraine war,” a White House readout of the call said. “Both leaders agreed this conflict needs to end with a lasting peace. They also stressed the need for improved bilateral relations between the United States and Russia.The blood and treasure that both Ukraine and Russia have been spending in this war would be better spent on the needs of their people. … The leaders agreed that the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire, as well as technical negotiations on implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace. These negotiations will begin immediately in the Middle East.”

The White House also said Mr. Trump and Putin agreed that an improved relationship between the U.S. and Russia “has a huge upside,” including “enormous economic deals and geopolitical stability when peace has been achieved.” 

On Monday, ahead of the call, Mr. Trump said U.S. officials are having “very serious discussions” with Russia about “land that would be kept and lost.” “You’re sort of creating the edge of a country,” he said.

Mr. Trump also said Monday that negotiations are complicated, and added that he would love to meet with Putin at some point.  

Last week, delegates from the U.S. and Ukraine met in Saudi Arabia and proposed a 30-day ceasefire. While Putin said he accepted the idea for a ceasefire in principle, he did not commit to a deal and said more discussions were needed.

contributed to this report.

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