Trump-Putin Discuss Ceasefire in Historic Call, Agree on Prisoner Exchange

Trump and Putin agree on a ceasefire proposal and prisoner exchange in a phone conversation.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a historic phone conversation lasting nearly two hours on Tuesday night. Confirming this, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino stated that President Trump attempted to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to a 30-day ceasefire proposal to halt the Russia-Ukraine war.

The Kremlin, the office of the Russian President, confirmed that both leaders agreed that Ukraine and Russia would exchange 175 prisoners of war. They also discussed establishing a special expert group to work on a Ukrainian peace agreement.

Neither country has disclosed the conclusions of the ceasefire discussions. However, Putin’s special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev (who handles international economic and investment cooperation), stated that “under the leadership of President Putin and President Trump, the world has become a much safer place today.” This statement has fueled speculation that the two leaders may have reached an agreement on a ceasefire.

Notably, last week in Saudi Arabia, Ukrainian representatives had agreed to a U.S.-proposed 30-day ceasefire. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had expressed doubts about whether Putin would comply with the ceasefire.

This was the first conversation between Trump and Putin since January. Trump had previously spoken with Putin on January 20, just five days after assuming office as the U.S. President, during which he had also held talks with several other world leaders.