U.S. President Donald Trump held an hour-long call with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, on March 19.
"Just completed a very good telephone call with President Zelensky of Ukraine. It lasted approximately one hour. Much of the discussion was based on the call made yesterday with President Putin in order to align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and needs," Trump said following the conversation.
President Trump held a 1.5-hour-long phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 18, during which Moscow demanded a complete cessation of foreign military aid and intelligence to Ukraine as a "key condition for avoiding an escalation of the war."
In addition to halting foreign military aid and intelligence, the Kremlin also called for Ukraine to cease the mobilization and rearmament of its military.
On March 17, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha outlined three key conditions for future negotiations to end Russia's war against Ukraine. Among them was that Ukraine's ability to defend itself must remain unrestricted.
During the call, Putin announced that on March 19, Ukraine and Russia would conduct a prisoner exchange. Moscow also pledged to release more than 23 seriously wounded Ukrainian soldiers to Kyiv. The prisoner exchange took place on March 19.
In the meantime, Putin also pledged to pause strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure for 30 days. Hours after, Kyiv was hit with drones.
"Putin's words are very different from reality," Zelensky said on March 19 following the attack.
Olena Yermakova
