The United States had previously backed a 30-day cease-fire covering all areas of the ongoing Russia–Ukraine war.
WASHINGTON—After President Donald Trump held his much-anticipated call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the White House announced Putin is willing to accept a partial cease-fire covering energy and infrastructure targets.
The two leaders started the conversation at 10 a.m. EST in the Oval Office, with Trump aiming to broker a cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine.
The agreement comes a week after Kyiv agreed to a U.S.-backed 30-day cease-fire covering all aspects of the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Putin had indicated some willingness to enter into the more expansive temporary cease-fire but said he had other concerns the proposal didn’t address.
“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,” the White House said in a readout of the nearly two-hour call.
Prior to the call, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stated that Kyiv is not an “obstacle” to a peace deal with Russia and expressed optimism that both sides could achieve peace under Trump’s leadership.
“Our approach: Now is a time for diplomacy, for a strong diplomacy,” Sybiha said on March 18 during a geopolitical conference in India.
“We also really believe that with [the] leadership of President Trump, we could achieve long-lasting, just peace.”
The call follows a meeting in Moscow last week between Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Putin.
According to Witkoff, both the U.S. and Russian sides made “a lot of progress” during that meeting, which lasted more than three hours.
During an interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Witkoff said, the significant gap between Ukraine and Russia that existed prior to Trump’s inauguration has been narrowed.
He noted that a cease-fire involves addressing various factors, such as preventing fighting along a 2,000-kilometer (1,200-mile) border and in areas like Kursk. He mentioned the need to consider Russia’s focus on specific regions, the protection of a nuclear reactor supplying electricity to Ukraine, access to ports, and potential agreements related to the Black Sea.
This is a developing story and will be updated with additional details.