WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump is set to engage in a significant discussion with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, which could mark a turning point in the efforts to resolve the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. This conversation presents Trump with a chance to further reshape American foreign policy.
While traveling from Florida to Washington on Air Force One Sunday evening, Trump revealed to reporters that he would be speaking with Putin soon, an announcement later confirmed by the Kremlin on Monday morning. “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.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed the planned dialogue between the two leaders but chose not to disclose further details, stating that “we never get ahead of events” and that discussions between presidents are typically confidential until after they occur.
European allies are watching cautiously amid concerns over Trump’s apparent rapport with Putin and his more stringent approach toward Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who encountered stark criticism during his recent visit to the Oval Office. Despite Russia’s failure to overthrow the Ukrainian government through an invasion three years ago, it maintains control over significant parts of the nation.
Trump indicated that territorial matters and power infrastructure would be central to the discussion aimed at finding a resolution to the war. “We will be talking about land. We will be talking about power plants,” he noted, describing the process as “dividing up certain assets.”
Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, visited Moscow last week to further negotiations. Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which led to the unlawful annexation of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions—none of which Russia completely dominates—Putin demanded the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from these areas as a peace condition.
In 2014, Russia also annexed Crimea from Ukraine. A particularly concerning issue is the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest in Europe, which resides in an occupied area of the Zaporizhzhia region and has been frequently at risk amid the ongoing conflict. The International Atomic Energy Agency, a U.N. organization, has consistently raised the alarm due to the potential for a nuclear disaster.
While addressing reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump expressed his intent to proceed with new tariffs starting April 2, despite recent stock market disruptions and worries about potential economic repercussions. “April 2 is a liberating day for our country,” he stated. “We’re getting back some of the wealth that very, very foolish presidents gave away because they had no clue what they were doing.”
Although Trump has adjusted his tariff plans in the past, such as with Mexico, he remained firm on implementing reciprocal tariffs. “They charge us and we charge them,” Trump elaborated. “Then in addition to that, on autos, on steel, on aluminum, we’re going to have some additional tariffs.”