US President Donald Trump said he plans to talk with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, March 18, about ending the war in Ukraine.

Trump added that talks are already underway to "allocate certain assets" between the warring parties.

On March 16, U.S. officials expressed optimism that a ceasefire agreement between Ukraine and Russia could be reached within weeks after Washington proposed a halt to fighting in the three-year-old war following talks in Saudi Arabia, which Kiev accepted. 

"I think we're going to talk about land we're going to talk about power plants", Trump said aboard Air Force One, as quoted by AFP.

"I think a lot of that has already been discussed very well by both sides, Ukraine and Russia. We're already talking about that, the separation of certain assets," he added.

Washington and Kiev's European allies have been pressing Moscow to accept a cessation of hostilities, but Putin gave no clear answer - instead listing a number of conditions and raising "serious questions" about the proposal.

Trump's envoy for the conflict, Steve Whitkoff, who met with Putin for a few hours a few days ago, indicated that he thought "the two presidents would have a really good and positive discussion this week."

Trump, he added, "really expects to have some kind of deal in the coming weeks, maybe, and I believe that's the case."

On 15 March, Ukrainian representative Volodymyr Zelensky accused the Kremlin of being unwilling to end the war. He warned that Moscow first wanted to "improve its situation on the battlefield" before agreeing to any ceasefire. | BGNES