TRUMP TO SPEAK WITH PUTIN AS HE SEEKS TO END UKRAINE WAR

President Donald Trump has announced plans to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, as part of his efforts to bring an end to the ongoing war in Ukraine. Trump disclosed the upcoming conversation to reporters while flying from Florida to Washington on Air Force One on Sunday evening.

“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.”

The conversation could be a pivotal moment in the conflict, and an opportunity for Trump to continue reorienting American foreign policy. However, European allies are wary of Trump’s affinity for Putin and his hardline stance toward Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

According to Trump, land and power plants will be part of the conversation around bringing the war to a close. “We will be talking about land. We will be talking about power plants,” he said. Trump described it as “dividing up certain assets.”

Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff recently visited Moscow to advance negotiations, and he said earlier Sunday that a call between Trump and Putin could come soon.

In addition to his efforts to end the Ukraine war, Trump also addressed his plans for tariffs on April 2, despite recent disruption in the stock market and nervousness about the economic impact. “April 2 is a liberating day for our country,” he said. “We’re getting back some of the wealth that very, very foolish presidents gave away because they had no clue what they were doing.”
Trump emphasized that he has no intention of changing course on his tariff plans. “They charge us and we charge them,” he said. “Then in addition to that, on autos, on steel, on aluminum, we’re going to have some additional tariffs.”