Trump and Putin Agree in Call to Begin Movement to Peace with Energy and Infrastructure Ceasefire
On March 18, 2025, the White House released a readout of President Trump's call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The readout said the two leaders spoke about the need for peace and a ceasefire in the Ukraine war, agreed that the conflict needs to end with a lasting peace, and stressed the need for improved bilateral relations between the United States and Russia.
The leaders said, according to the readout, that the blood and treasure that both Ukraine and Russia had spent in the war might better have been spent on the needs of their people. The conflict should never have started and should have been ended long ago with sincere and good faith peace efforts, a view set out in the call.
The leaders agreed that the movement to peace would begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire, as well as technical negotiations on implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, a full ceasefire, and permanent peace. The readout said those negotiations would begin immediately in the Middle East.
The leaders also spoke broadly about the Middle East as a region of potential cooperation to prevent future conflicts. They further discussed stopping the proliferation of strategic weapons and said they would engage with others to ensure the broadest possible application of such efforts.
Both leaders shared the view that Iran should never be in a position to destroy Israel. On bilateral relations, they agreed that a future with an improved relationship between the United States and Russia has huge upside, including enormous economic deals and geopolitical stability once peace has been achieved.
The readout released by the Kremlin, by contrast, said Putin listed issues including effective oversight in connection with the proposal for a 30-day full ceasefire; that Trump proposed that the two sides refrain from striking energy infrastructure for 30 days, that Putin responded positively and immediately gave the corresponding order to the Russian military; and that Russia and Ukraine would exchange 175 prisoners of war each on March 19, with Russia also returning 23 seriously wounded Ukrainian servicemen.
In sequence, the White House readout presented the movement toward peace in connected steps: first an energy and infrastructure ceasefire, then technical negotiations on a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, followed by a full ceasefire and ultimately permanent peace, with all of those negotiations to begin immediately in the Middle East, and improved bilateral relations and enormous economic deals placed after peace has been achieved.
The White House readout listed the energy and infrastructure ceasefire as the starting point for the movement to peace and the technical negotiations to begin immediately in the Middle East as the next step, with the talks to cover a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, a full ceasefire, and permanent peace. (Source: The White House)
Source: The White House
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：2025年3月20日，俄罗斯总统普京在莫斯科克里姆林宫办公桌前会见科斯特罗马州州长西特尼科夫（通话后两日的同期官方照片；本次通话本身未公布照片）。（克里姆林宫官方照片，CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons） / Photo: Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Kostroma Region Governor Sergey Sitnikov at his Kremlin desk in Moscow on March 20, 2025, two days after the call (official Kremlin photo, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; no photo of the call itself was released).
- 2025-03-11Ukraine Accepts U.S. Proposal for 30-Day Interim Ceasefire: U.S. to Immediately Restore Intelligence Sharing and Security Assistance
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