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President Donald Trump revealed that he will discuss "dividing up certain assets," including land and power plants between Russia and Ukraine during a scheduled call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday (March 18), confirming that negotiators have already begun discussions.
“I think we have a lot of it already discussed by both sides — Ukraine and Russia,” Trump said Sunday (March 16) night via NBC News. “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.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Putin was scheduled for a call with Trump on Tuesday, but didn't provide additional details, during a press briefing on Monday (March 17). Trump is reportedly expected to attempt to gain Putin's support for a 30-day ceasefire agreement proposed by the United States and Ukraine, which was agreed to when their delegates met in Saudi Arabia last week.
Putin, however, has said that crucial demands made by the Kremlin, which include cementing Russia's land grabs during the three-year war, as well as prohibiting Kyiv from ever joining NATO, must be met for a ceasefire deal to take place. Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko reiterated those goals, claiming the Kremlin would seek "iron-clad security guarantees” that Kyiv would be excluded from NATO in any peace deal.