By Janet Ekstract, İSTANBUL – A far cry from the previous White House ‘spat’ between Ukraine’s President Zelensky and U.S. President Donald Trump – observers and analysts indicate the two leaders are on more solid footing. On March 19, Trump and Zelensky held a call in the early afternoon about the situation in Ukraine. While Trump had conferred with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin about a ceasefire, Putin rejected a full ceasefire in his call with Trump on March 18. Despite this, Trump said he and Putin will speak again on Sunday. Zelensky had pointed out that though Putin said he would agree to stop strikes on Ukraine’s essential infrastructure, just the opposite is happening with new strikes by Russia on Ukraine. Zelensky has accused Putin of going after major energy facilities in Ukraine while Putin accuses Ukraine of hitting one of its major oil storage facilities.
Meanwhile, both countries continue to engage in prisoner swaps. On Trump’s call with Putin on Tuesday, the two leaders discussed both sides agreeing not to attack energy infrastructure for 30 days which Putin agreed to and said he informed his military “immediately.” The leaders also spoke about ongoing mediation efforts and that discussions will be continuing with immediate mediation in the Middle East. Both the U.S. and Russia will hold specific negotiations on a future maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea. The two sticking points include no agreement on a full ceasefire as well as conditions for peace with Putin calling for an end to arms to Ukraine and intelligence sharing. The readout from the U.S. has no mention of those two demands. At the moment, press outlets are waiting to hear about the results of Trump’s call with Zelensky.
