The morning after Donald Trump spent two hours on the phone with Vladimir Putin, securing a partial ceasefire agreement, it was Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s turn to speak with the American president. The call, the first direct conversation between the two leaders since the diplomatic fireworks at the White House—which ended with Senators Marco Rubio and Michael Waltz asking Zelenskyy to leave—lasted one hour less than Trump’s discussion with Putin.
Zelenskyy, keen to keep things amicable, focused on getting on the Trump’s good side. “Thank you” featured frequently, as the Ukrainian leader made sure to remind Trump of his appreciation for American support. Javelins were, of course, on the list. President Zelenskyy also thanked President Trump for the talks in Jeddah on March 11th. He also said “thank you” for the exchange of POWs.
Zelenskyy, having thus far failed to bring Trump decisively onto his side, has been consulting British communications experts, crafting carefully measured statements designed to be diplomatic and not antagonistic.
Since Trump declared that Zelenskyy was “not ready for peace” on the day he visited Washington to sign a rare minerals agreement—a deal that remains unsigned to this day—the Ukrainian leader has consistently signaled his willingness to work with Trump.
That now includes a 30-day full ceasefire. Putin, however, appears to be in no hurry to agree to the full ceasefire.
Meanwhile, Rubio and Waltz, acting on Trump’s instruction, released a memo describing the phone conversation between Trump and Zelenskyy as “fantastic.”
Trump reportedly briefed Zelenskyy on his discussion with Putin, focusing on the battlefield situation in Kursk. Both leaders agreed to keep their defense staffs in close contact. Zelenskyy, for his part, pressed Trump for additional air defense systems, particularly Patriot missile systems. Trump, according to the memo, agreed to explore what might be available in Europe.
On reports of Russian strikes on civilian infrastructure overnight, Rubio’s spokesperson said at today’s press briefing, attended by The Pavlovic Today, that “attacks like these are precisely why President Trump is committed to peace. It is time for the death and destruction to stop and for an end to this senseless war.”
State Department spokesperson Bruce, in her third press briefing since Rubio was confirmed as Secretary of State, reiterated that “there is no military solution to this war.” The State Department maintains the position that “all sides need to move to a ceasefire; President Trump has made this clear as well. We cannot get to the table for negotiations to end the war without a ceasefire in place. The shooting has to stop first.”
Technical teams are set to convene in Saudi Arabia in the coming days to explore extending the ceasefire to the Black Sea as a potential step toward a broader resolution. Ensuring the success of this agreement now depends on cooperation between Ukraine, the United States, and Russia—with Saudi Arabia playing a role in brokering further de-escalation.
The format of these talks, whether bilateral or trilateral has yet not been decided and is something that the teams are putting in place, according to Bruce.
Trump also raised in his conversation with Zelenskyy the sensitive issue of Ukrainian children who have gone missing during the war, including those abducted. He promised to work closely with all parties to facilitate their return home.
During the State Department briefing, Bruce addressed concerns regarding the administration’s decision to cut funding for research into the abduction of Ukrainian children. When asked about reports that data collected on some 30,000 missing children might have been deleted, Bruce denied the claims outright.
“The funding has been cut based on the assessments that we’ve been making regarding a whole host of funding, if it worked within our framework of what was in America’s interests,” Bruce said.
“What I can tell you, though, is also that the conspiracy theory or the fear or whatever it was about data being deleted is untrue. So that is false. The data exists. It was not in the State Department’s control. It was the people running that framework, but we know who is running the data and the website, and we know fully that the data exists and it’s not been deleted and it’s not missing. So that’s the good news.”
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