Donald Trump says he’ll speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin tomorrow as he pushes to end the war in Ukraine. He said the two leaders would talk about land and „dividing up certain assets“.
false,Monday 17 March 2025 07:32, UK
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As officials seek a way to end the war, drone attacks have continued overnight between Russia and Ukraine.
The regional governor of Russia’s Astrakhan region said on Telegram that Ukrainian drones had targeted energy facilities and other targets, adding the situation is „under control“.
Russia’s defence ministry said it destroyed 72 drones fired by Ukraine overnight, including 13 over the Astrakhan region and 36 over the Kursk region, where Kyiv’s forces have been pushed back in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko said in a Telegram post last night that air defence units were trying to repel a Russian drone attack.
Posting on X this morning, Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s newly-formed peace delegation, said: „Russia continues to attack, Ukraine is responding to the attacks and will respond until Putin stops the war.“
With Donald Trump revealing he will speak with Vladimir Putin about land and „dividing up certain assets“ tomorrow, concern will be growing in Ukraine over exactly what he means.
US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said yesterday that Kyiv will receive unspecified security guarantees in exchange for unspecified territorial concessions.
He also stated that the US is considering „the reality of the situation on the ground“ in diplomatic talks when discussing an end to the war in Ukraine, a phrase often heard coming from the halls of the Kremlin.
This could well mean negotiations lean towards „freezing“ the current frontlines of the conflict, which would leave Moscow controlling just over 20% of Ukraine’s territory.
What are Putin’s territorial demands?
Putin has made his maximalist territorial claims over Ukraine one of his red lines for peace talks, consistently demanding the surrender of four regions his forces do not even completely control.
Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson are all claimed by Moscow as Russian territory and Putin appears committed to these territorial goals despite ongoing negotiations.
Could current lines hold?
According to the US-based Institute for the Study of War thinktank, the current frontlines do not provide the strategic depth that Ukraine will need to reliably defend against potential renewed Russian aggression.
It says stopping hostilities on currently indefensible lines would limit the effectiveness of any security guarantees provided by the US.
Russian forces sit just across the Dnipro River from Kherson, roughly 25 kilometres from Zaporizhzhia, and 30 kilometres from Kharkiv.
Those troops could use a ceasefire to prepare for the task of conducting an opposed river crossing undisturbed, significantly increasing the likelihood of success in such an endeavour, the ISW adds.
How can Ukraine defend itself?
Simply, Kyiv will need security guarantees from the US as well as rapid, larger volumes of military aid to protect itself the closer the ultimate ceasefire lines are to the current frontline.
The ISW says Ukraine would likely need an even larger military with greater capabilities to play its critical role in deterring and, if necessary, defeating future aggression along current frontline lines.
„Enforcing a ceasefire along the current frontline would also require the commitment of large numbers of Western forces,“ it adds.
Donald Trump says he’ll speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin tomorrow as he pushes to end the war in Ukraine.
The US leader disclosed the upcoming conversation to reporters while flying from Florida to Washington on Air Force One last night.
„We will see if we have something to announce maybe by Tuesday. I will be speaking to President Putin on Tuesday,“ Trump said.
„A lot of work’s been done over the weekend. We want to see if we can bring that war to an end.“
Although Russia failed in its initial goal to topple Ukraine with its invasion three years ago, it still controls large areas of the country.
Trump said land and power plants are part of the conversation around bringing the war to a close.
„We will be talking about land. We will be talking about power plants,“ he said, describing it as „dividing up certain assets.“
By Ollie Cooper, live news reporter
Welcome back to another week of our continuing coverage of the war in Ukraine.
Before we get into our live updates, here’s what you need to know ahead of a new – and potentially pivotal – week in the conflict.
Kursk battles heating up
Ukraine’s forces have retreated from the key Kursk town of Sudzha, after relentless Russian and North Korean pressure.
Ukraine insists troops there are not „encircled“ – as was claimed by Putin and subsequently parroted by Trump – but ground losses are undeniable.
Kyiv says its troops have fallen back to more defendable positions, while Moscow claims its forces have been slowed by having to deal with extensive mining by Ukrainian forces.
Every battle is fiercely contested, according to accounts from both sides.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has suggested that Putin failed to agree to a US-proposed 30-day ceasefire as he wanted to recover all Russian territory – implying he wanted to leave Kyiv with less to negotiate with.
It’s arguably the hottest part of the frontline right now, so having an idea of this context will be useful as negotiations (appear to) approach.
Zelenskyy replaces army chief
Amid mounting pressure in Kursk and across the whole frontline, Zelenskyy replaced the head of the Ukrainian army, it was announced yesterday.
Andrii Hnatov will now serve as the new chief of General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, replacing Anatoliy Bargylevych, who only took the role in February last year.
„We are systematically transforming the Armed Forces of Ukraine to enhance their combat effectiveness,“ defence minister Rustem Umerov said, announcing the change.
Zelenskyy has regularly reshuffled military and government personnel to maximise efficiency throughout the war.
Is Trump bowing to Putin’s every wish?
After a series of commentators suggested that Trump was doing his very best to appease Putin, the US president made another move aimed at keeping the Kremlin on side.
Over the weekend, Trump limited the remit of the envoy who was supposed to spearhead his campaign for peace between Ukraine and Russia.
Retired general Keith Kellogg was originally US envoy to Russia and Ukraine, but now his remit covers only the Ukrainian side of things, Trump appeared to confirm in a social media post.
The US president said Kellogg will now only deal „directly“ with Zelenskyy – amid reports that the Kremlin told Washington it did not want him involved in discussions with Russia at all.
The retired general was excluded from high-level talks on ending the war after the Kremlin said it didn’t want him there.
Vladimir Putin thought he was too pro-Ukraine, a senior Russian official with direct knowledge of the Kremlin’s thinking told our partner network NBC News.
„Kellogg is a former American general, too close to Ukraine. Not our kind of person, not of the calibre we are looking for,“ the official said.
Need more answers?
Have more questions about the war? Have a read through last week’s Q&A with military analyst Michael Clarke here, or watch the full thing below…
Thanks for following our live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
Before we go, here’s a roundup of the key things you may have missed from today:
There is no prospect of talks between the NATO alliance and Moscow, a senior Russian official has said.
Alexander Grushko, the country’s deputy foreign minister, told Russian outlet Izvestia that talk of NATO peacekeepers being deployed to Ukraine was „absurd“, and that there were no plans for communications over the war or anything else at present.
„I don’t see any prospects [of Russia-NATO talks] at the moment,“ he said, adding: „Of course, you can’t say never.“
He also revealed the „hotline“ is available for contact between the alliance and Moscow in an emergency.
The hotline, similar to the Washington-Moscow „red telephone“ (which established in 1963 to reduce the misperceptions that stoked the Cuban Missile Crisis), allows direct contact between senior decision makers on both sides in the event of an imminent nuclear war.
„There is only a hotline with NATO headquarters, which is provided on our part by the embassy of the Russian Federation in Belgium,“ Grushko said.
„It has not yet been activated, but we have officially notified the leadership of the alliance about it. They know where to call if necessary.“
A senior aide to Donald Trump has refused to rule out introducing further sanctions on Russia should Moscow not accept a ceasefire deal in the coming days.
„A fundamental question for the Russians [is] do they want to keep grinding forward? What’s the situation going to look like as they lose massive amounts of men and material on this?“ Mike Waltz said at a news briefing.
When pressed by reporters on whether that meant sanctions were imminent, he said he would not get ahead of the president, but that Trump „has put that out there on the table“.
„We are engaging in diplomacy, and that will involve both carrots and sticks to get both sides to the table, but to also resolve this in a way that is permanent and enduring.“
Russia’s defence ministry has been reporting waves of Ukrainian drone attacks throughout the day over its Kursk region.
In a 40-minute window this afternoon, Moscow said it shot down 27 Ukrainian drones, while a further nine were reported a short time ago.
It’s not clear whether there were any casualties.
Kursk remains one of the hottest areas of the entire frontline – and you can read more about that in our 15.30 post.
With diplomatic talks between Russia and America stalled, the killing on the battlefields continues.
On this episode of The World podcast, Richard Engel reports from the frontline of Mykolaiv, witnessing continued Russian bombardment of the region, while Yalda Hakim reveals what the Russian ambassador in London told her about Moscow’s conditions for a ceasefire.
To get in touch or to share questions for Richard and Yalda, email theworld@sky.uk.
Click here to visit their YouTube channel where you can watch all the episodes.
Today marks three years since the Mariupol theatre bombing.
On 16 March 2022, hundreds of local civilians were sheltering in the Donetsk Academic Regional Drama Theatre in Mariupol as the city was besieged by Russian forces.
A Russian airstrike killed a many as 600 people that day, in one of the most infamous events of the war.
Today in Prague, a memorial event was held, where people created a giant sign reading „Children“ in Russian and lit candles.
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Ukraine war latest: Trump says he will speak with Putin on ceasefire deal and 'dividing up certain assets' – Sky News
