Trump Plans to Speak With Putin Today About Ending Ukraine War

US Leader Hopes to Win Russia's Support for Truce Plan After Officials Hold Positive Talks

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US President Donald Trump said he plans to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 18 and discuss ending the war in Ukraine, after positive talks between US and Russian officials in Moscow.

"I'll be speaking to President Putin on Tuesday. A lot of work's been done over the weekend," Mr. Trump told reporters on Air Force One during a late flight back to the Washington area from Florida.

"We want to see if we can bring that war to an end. Maybe we can, maybe we can't, but I think we have a very good chance," Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Trump is trying to win Mr. Putin's support for a 30-day ceasefire proposal that Ukraine accepted last week, as both sides continued trading heavy aerial strikes through the weekend and Russia moved closer to ejecting Ukrainian forces from their months-old foothold in the western Russian region of Kursk.

When asked about what concessions are being considered in ceasefire negotiations, Mr. Trump said: "We'll be talking about land. We'll be talking about power plants."

He added: "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."

Mr. Trump said a lot of work had been done on the issue over the weekend, which he spent in Florida, where he has a residence.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on March 17 that Mr. Putin would speak with Mr. Trump by phone but declined to comment on Mr. Trump's remarks about land and power plants.

The Kremlin said on March 14 that Mr. Putin had sent Mr. Trump a message about his ceasefire plan via US envoy Steve Witkoff, who held talks in Moscow, expressing "cautious optimism" that a deal could be reached to end the three-year conflict.