'Blood and treasure': Inside the Trump-Putin phone call

The leaders discussed a potential end to the war in Ukraine.

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed during a lengthy call this morning to seek a limited ceasefire against energy and infrastructure targets in the Russia-Ukraine war, according to the White House.

The White House described it as the first step in a "movement to peace" it hopes will eventually include a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea and a full and lasting end to the fighting.

"Both leaders agreed this conflict needs to end with a lasting peace," the White House said in a statement.

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"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 White House said negotiations would "begin immediately" on those steps. It was not immediately clear whether Ukraine is on board with the phased ceasefire plan.

Ukrainian officials had proposed a limited ceasefire covering the Black Sea and long-range missile strikes and the release of prisoners at their meeting with the US delegation in Saudi Arabia this month.

Putin also told Trump that Russia and Ukraine are set to exchange 175 prisoners of war each on Wednesday local time, and Russia will also hand over to Ukraine 23 badly wounded soldiers, the Kremlin said.

Putin also called on Trump to end foreign military and intelligence assistance to Ukraine as the US looks to bring an end to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to the Kremlin.

Trump said before the call that he expected to discuss with Putin land and power plants that have been seized during the three-year war.

Ukrainian officials last week agreed to the American proposal during talks in Saudi Arabia led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, however, remains sceptical that Putin is ready for peace as Russian forces continue to pound Ukraine.

The engagement is just the latest turn in dramatically shifting US-Russia relations as Trump made quickly ending the conflict a top priority — even at the expense of straining ties with longtime American allies who want Putin to pay a price for the invasion.

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"It's a bad situation in Russia, and it's a bad situation in Ukraine," Trump told reporters on Monday. 

"What's happening in Ukraine is not good, but we're going to see if we can work a peace agreement, a ceasefire and peace. And I think we'll be able to do it."

In preparation for the Trump-Putin call, White House special envoy Steve Witkoff met last week with Putin in Moscow to discuss the proposal. 

Rubio had persuaded senior Ukrainian officials during talks in Saudi Arabia to agree to the ceasefire framework.

Putin last week said he agreed in principle with the US proposal, but emphasised that Russia would seek guarantees that Ukraine would not use a break in hostilities to rearm and continue mobilisation. 

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The Russian president has also demanded that Ukraine renounce joining NATO military alliance, sharply cut its army, and protect Russian language and culture to keep the country in Moscow's orbit.

The US president said Washington and Moscow have already begun discussing "dividing up certain assets" between Ukraine and Russia as part of a deal to end the conflict.

Trump, who during his campaign pledged to end the war quickly, has at moments boasted of his relationship with Putin and blamed Ukraine for Russia's unprovoked invasion, all while accusing Zelenskyy of unnecessarily prolonging the biggest land war in Europe since World War II.

Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday that Trump and Putin would discuss the war in Ukraine but added that there are also a "large number of questions" regarding normalising US-Russia relations.

Trump has said that control of land and power plants will be part of the conversation, which comes on the anniversary of Russia annexing Ukraine's Crimean peninsula 11 years ago. That bold land grab by Russia set the stage for Russia to invade its neighbour in 2022.

Witkoff suggested that US and Russian officials have discussed the fate of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant — Europe's largest — in southern Ukraine.

The plant has been caught in the crossfire since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in 2022 and seized the facility shortly after. The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly expressed alarm about it, fueling fears of a potential nuclear catastrophe.

The plant is a significant asset, producing nearly a quarter of Ukraine's electricity in the year before the war.

Zelenskyy in his nightly video address on Monday made clear he remains doubtful that Putin is ready for peace.

"Now, almost a week later, it's clear to everyone in the world — even to those who refused to acknowledge the truth for the past three years — that it is Putin who continues to drag out this war," Zelenskyy said.

In his dealings with Zelenskyy and Putin, Trump has frequently focused on who has the leverage. Putin has "the cards" and Zelenskyy does not, Trump has said repeatedly.

Trump, who has long shown admiration for Putin, has also made clear he'd like to see the US-Russia relationship return to a more normal footing.

The president during his recent contentious meeting with Zelenskyy grumbled that "Putin went through a hell of a lot with me," a reference to the federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election in which he beat Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Trump on Monday again underscored his view that Ukraine is not in a strong negotiating position. He said Russian forces have "surrounded" Ukrainian troops in Russia's Kursk region — amplifying an assertion made by Russian officials that's been disputed by Zelenskyy.

Ukraine's army stunned Russia in August last year by attacking across the border and taking control of an estimated 1300 square kilometres of land. But Ukraine's forces are now in retreat and it has all but lost a valuable bargaining chip, as momentum builds for a ceasefire with Russia.

Zelenskyy has acknowledged that the Ukrainians are on their back foot while disputing Russian claims that his troops are encircled in Kursk.

Trump suggested that he's taken unspecified action that has kept Russia from slaughtering Ukrainian troops in Kursk.

"They're surrounded by Russian soldiers, and I believe if it wasn't for me they wouldn't be here any longer," Trump said.

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