30 days without energy strikes: Trump and Putin agree on steps to peace in Ukraine

US President Donald Trump has held a conversation with Russian leader Vladimir Putin during which the two sides agreed to start a path towards peace between Ukraine and Russia, the White House has said in a statement.

During today's dialogue, the leaders discussed the ceasefire issue, coming to a common view that the conflict in Ukraine should end with a lasting and sustainable peace. As the White House notes, Putin and Trump agreed on the first steps to achieve this goal.

We agreed that progress toward peace will begin with a ceasefire in the energy sector and infrastructure, as well as technical negotiations to implement a ceasefire in the Black Sea, which will serve as the basis for a complete ceasefire and sustainable peace," the official statement said.

U.S. officials said negotiations on the issue would begin immediately in the Middle East. In addition, during the conversation, Trump and Putin said that improving bilateral relations between the US and Russia has huge benefits for the future.

It also became known that Putin said that it is necessary to suspend the mobilisation and rearmament of the AFU in case of achievement of a truce. We will remind, earlier Russia has repeatedly announced the cessation of strikes on the energy infrastructure of Ukraine, but these promises have been repeatedly broken. Thus, last spring, the attacks of the Russian Federation led to large-scale power cuts that lasted from May to September.

Thus, in a telephone conversation on Tuesday, 18 March, Russian leader Vladimir Putin stressed that the suspension of mobilization and rearmament of the AFU would be an important condition for achieving a ceasefire and establishing a lasting peace in Ukraine.