Negotiators trying to end the war between Ukraine and Russia have talked about splitting up certain assets, according to former US President Donald Trump. He also said he plans to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, March 18.
Last week, Trump announced that Ukraine had agreed to a US-proposed 30-day ceasefire, leaving Russia to decide whether to accept the deal. However, Putin has not given a clear response. While he agreed in principle, he also set strict conditions and blamed Ukraine’s government for the conflict.
“We’re doing pretty well, I think, with Russia. We’ll see if we have something to announce maybe by Tuesday, I’ll be speaking to President Putin on Tuesday,” he told reporters on board Air Force One during a flight back to the White House after his weekend at Mar-a-Lago.
“A lot of work’s been done over the weekend, we want to see if we can bring that war to an end,” he said. “Maybe we can, maybe we can’t, but I think we have a very good chance.”
“We’ll be talking about land. A lot of land is a lot different than it was before the war, as you know. We’ll be talking about land, we’ll be talking about power plants, that’s a big question,” he added.
“But I think we have a lot of it already discussed, very much, by both sides, Ukraine and Russia. We’re already talking about that – dividing up certain assets.”
Russia first took parts of Ukraine in 2014 before launching a full-scale invasion in 2022. Since then, Ukraine has lost about 11% of its land, according to data analyzed by CNN. Land concessions remain a key issue in peace talks, with US officials suggesting Ukraine may need to give up some territory to end the war.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has strongly opposed this, and some European leaders worry that giving up land would reward Putin for his invasion.
Trump’s approach to peace talks, including possible concessions to Russia, has concerned NATO allies. Some European leaders now question whether they can rely on US security support. Meanwhile, Putin recently stated that Russia is working to rebuild relations with the US, which he claimed were damaged by the previous American administration.
