Trump: Russia will agree to a truce

Russia will agree to a 30-day truce in the conflict with Ukraine, US President Donald Trump said, the White House press pool reports.

"They will agree," Trump replied to a reporter who asked if Moscow would give its consent after Kiev.

The US President will call his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on March 18.

"Let's see if we can reach a peace agreement, a cease—fire and establish peace, I think we can do it," Trump said.

He noted that he had already held telephone conversations with Moscow before, but now "we are approaching a critical stage" and "we want to find a solution in this whole situation with Russia and Ukraine." Trump expressed confidence that Kiev wants to achieve peace.

A few days earlier, Putin responded to Kiev's proposal and Washington about the ceasefire for a month. The President said that he considers the idea correct, but sees some nuances that need to be clarified. Among them, Putin listed the fate of Ukrainian servicemen in the Kursk region, the risk of continued mobilization to Ukraine and the supply of weapons to it. Putin added that he could discuss these issues in a telephone conversation with Trump.

The United States considers the cease-fire as the first stage for the transition to negotiations, which can be either general or conducted within the framework of shuttle diplomacy.

"It's hard to negotiate a long—term end to the war while they're shooting at each other, and that's why the president wants a cease-fire," explained Secretary of State Marco Rubio.