Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin spoke on Tuesday for at least 90 minutes. Russia has agreed to a partial ceasefire on targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure as a result, for a period of 30 days. Recap the day’s events below.
Tuesday 18 March 2025 22:24, UK
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Live reporting by Mark Wyatt
Thanks for following our live coverage this evening.
It’s been a busy day, with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin holding a call earlier today.
The key line from that call was that Putin had ordered his military to stop striking Ukrainian energy infrastructure for a 30-day ceasefire, in what is seen as a conditional or partial ceasefire.
If you want to catch up on all the details of the call, click here for more.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded shortly afterwards, saying that talks about Ukraine without Kyiv at the table would bear no fruit.
But, he did say he was open to the 30-day infrastructure ceasefire.
Read more about his words here.
And if you want to find out what you should be gleaning from all this information, you can read our correspondent‘ analysis:
By Lara Keay, news reporter
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s have both said any ceasefire between their two countries must lead to a lasting peace.
Ukraine has not long marked three years of war, in which hundreds of thousands have died or been injured on both sides, according to the respective authorities.
But what would a Ukraine without fighting look like?
Here we go through some of the options.
Earlier, we brought you the news that Germany has approved a change to constitutional borrowing rules to allow much more defence spending.
Siobhan Robbins, our Europe correspondent in Berlin, brings us more details.
A historic plan which will release billions of euros of extra investment in defence and infrastructure has been passed by German politicians.
The package proposed by Friedrich Merz, the country’s chancellor-in-waiting, will see strict rules around debt loosened.
Under the unprecedented plan, defence and security spending above 1% of gross domestic product (GDP) will be exempt from borrowing rules introduced after the 2008 financial crisis. Aid for Ukraine can also potentially be included in that exemption.
The decision could see a huge boost in military spending at a crucial moment in the war in Ukraine as America appears to be backing away from Europe.
The plan backed by Merz’s conservative block with the support of the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Green Party passed through the lower house of parliament with 513 out of 720 votes in favour.
„We have for at least a decade felt a false sense of security. The decision we are taking today on defence readiness… can be nothing less than the first major step towards a new European defence community,“ Merz said before the vote.
The vote also frees up 500bn euros to improve German infrastructure but will also pay for climate change measures as requested by the Green Party.
In the run-up to the crucial decision, markets reacted positively to the potential boost to Europe’s largest economy.
German army chiefs have repeatedly warned the country needs to be war-ready in the next five to eight years.
Russian forces could ready within this timeframe to attack a NATO country, they warn.
But decades of neglect mean a recent report found the country’s military is still ageing and shrinking.
Supporters hope the relaxation of borrowing rules will be the cash injection the armed forces and industry need.
The conservative block and SPD wanted to push the legislation through the outgoing parliament for fear it could be blocked by an enlarged contingent of far-right and far-left representatives in the next Bundestag – which starts on 25 March.
The package still has to be signed off by parliament’s upper house, which will vote on Friday.
By James Matthews, US correspondent, in Washington DC
They’re calling it „ceasefire-lite“. In Kyiv, they’ll choke on it.
The respective readouts of the Trump-Putin phone call don’t read well for Ukrainians relying on a US ally to do their bidding.
They had already agreed to a 30-day ceasefire with the Americans who said they were „on the 10th yard line of peace“.
Moscow, clearly, has different ideas. To extend the American football metaphor, Vladimir Putin still has hands on the ball.
The Russians know Donald Trump. Prisoner exchanges present a trophy achievement.
There was, of all things, talk of US v Russia ice hockey matches. In Moscow, they know Trump’s comfortable talking sport and that many Americans think hockey before they think Ukraine.
It was dressing around a deal that is deeply flawed from Kyiv’s perspective.
Russian talk of eliminating „root causes of the crisis“ speaks to Moscow’s desire to demilitarise Ukraine and lay claim to its territory.
Then there was Putin’s insistence on a „cessation of foreign military aid and the provision of intelligence information to Kyiv“.
To cut the supply of weapons and intelligence would weaken Ukraine while Russia strengthens.
For Kyiv, it’s a line so red it’s purple.
What Trump does next is pivotal. What he’s done so far boxes Ukraine into a corner – so too European allies.
A common thread in the readouts was the positive talk of US-Russian relations to come – „an improved bilateral relationship… has huge upside“, was Washington’s take.
It’s clear Trump and Putin share the vision of a geopolitical shift, built on shared priorities.
The fate of Ukraine isn’t necessarily top of the list.
In our 19.30 last post, we outlined the key takeaways from the Trump-Putin call in a bullet point list.
But if you’d rather listen to it broken down by one of our US correspondents, James Matthews, you can do so by watching the video below…
Downing Street has welcomed „the progress President Trump has made towards a ceasefire“ following his call with Vladimir Putin.
However, the UK government also insisted negotiations must lead to a „just and lasting peace for Ukraine“.
A Downing Street spokesperson added: „We will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes to ensure Russia can never launch an illegal invasion again.“
A Ukrainian MP claims that Vladimir Putin has effectively thrown Donald Trump a bone by ordering his military to halt strikes on energy infrastructure.
„He had to agree to something,“ Oleksiy Goncharenko said.
„He chose the most convenient thing for himself, which is energy infrastructure – winter is already over, and he needs to pump and sell oil – that is why he chose this for himself,“ he said.
„Then the Russians will stall for time, resist as much as they can, say whatever they want.
„And then, under pressure from the Americans, another step, another step, another step. And so it will continue to happen.“
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has just offered his reaction to the Donald Trump-Vladimir Putin call.
He said firstly that he hopes Trump will fill him in on the detail of the call, but added he supports the proposal to stop strikes on energy infrastructure for 30 days.
He said Ukraine would support any ideas that lead to a stable and just peace, but that an unconditional ceasefire would be a better step forward.
He did, however, say that future talks about Ukraine without Kyiv at the table will not bring results.
Addressing the Russian offer to release 23 seriously wounded Ukrainian soldiers, he said freeing all prisoners would be a real way for Russia to show it is serious about peace talks.
On Putin’s demand to see all foreign military aid and intelligence sharing halted, Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s allies would never agree to such a move and that he hopes supplies would continue.
Zelenskyy added that that demand was simply Putin attempting to weaken Ukraine.
The Ukrainian leader also said his forces had assessed that Russia was preparing new offensives in several regions – namely Sumy, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia – in a bid to ramp up pressure on Kyiv.
Here’s how the frontline currently looks…
(Sumy lies to the north of Ukraine – on the Ukrainian side of the border nearest the Russian Kursk region)
It’s 7.30pm in London, 9.30pm in Kyiv, 10.30pm in Moscow and 3.30pm in Washington.
If you’re just joining us, you’re probably looking for updates on the Donald Trump-Vladimir Putin phone call.
Here’s what you need to know.
The call itself
What was agreed
By Ivor Bennett, Moscow correspondent
I think Vladimir Putin will be very satisfied with the outcome of this call because even if he hasn’t gained a whole lot, he crucially hasn’t lost anything.
By agreeing to a ceasefire on energy infrastructure, he has given Donald Trump enough to ensure the wider US-Russia rapprochement remains intact. There’s been talk in the last month of a reset of relations, of the lifting of sanctions – and Vladimir Putin certainly doesn’t want to jeopardise that.
At the same time, though, he didn’t want to dilute any of his red lines. And by the sounds of it, they’re as indelible as ever.
The Kremlin’s readout of the call talks of a need to „eliminate the root causes of the crisis“, which is Kremlin code for „Russia’s security concerns regarding NATO expansion need to be met“.
One thing this call has given him though is the time to press home Russia’s military advantage. This is particularly important to Putin in Russia’s Kursk region, where his forces are seemingly on the verge of eradicating Ukraine’s foothold, which would be of huge symbolic importance to the Kremlin.
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free
