Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin had a phone call today (March 18)

According to RIA Novosti on March 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump are planning to hold a new phone call today (March 18). This is the second exchange between the two leaders since Mr. Trump took office as the 47th president of the United States, and will coincide with the 11th anniversary of Crimea's annexation by Russia.

President Donald Trump was the first to announce plans for a new call between the leaders. The US president said he intended to raise the issue of territory and control of nuclear power plants in his call with Putin.

The Kremlin confirmed that such a phone call is indeed being prepared. The press secretary of the Russian President, Dmitry Peskov, did not disclose the agenda of the upcoming phone call, but noted that preparations for the exchange were mainly focused on the issue of resolving the Ukrainian issue.

Mr. Peskov also called the upcoming call a very important step, “setting the tone for the rest of the process to restore bilateral relations between Russia and the United States.”

Ahead of the call, US President Donald Trump told reporters when asked if Russia would agree to a ceasefire after Ukraine made a similar move, he expressed confidence that Russia would agree to a 30-day ceasefire with Ukraine. “They will,” Trump said.

Writing on the social network Truth Social, President Trump said that many elements of the agreement on resolving the Ukraine issue have been agreed upon, but much remains unresolved. Therefore, he is looking forward to the upcoming conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

In an interview with Fox, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio believes that this phone call will make progress in resolving the Ukraine issue. According to Mr. Rubio, the parties are getting closer to a solution after contacts between the US and Ukraine, and also Russia, but Washington is still not convinced that the actions of any participating party are completely satisfactory.