Live Updates: Trump-Putin discuss US plans for Ukraine ceasefire

As Trump and Putin talk, U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts has put an unusual statement critical of the Trump administration's actions.

Roberts responded to Trump's attacks on a federal judge presiding over a deportation battle.

He is rejecting the idea that impeachment is the answer for a disagreement with the jurist's rulings.

"For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision," Roberts said in a statement issued by the court. "The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose."

Roberts' statement followed Trump's call on Tuesday for the impeachment of Washington-based U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who ordered the administration on Saturday to halt the removal of alleged Venezuelan gang members, which Trump has argued is authorized by an 18th-century law historically used only in wartime.

Trump and Putin have been on the call for more than two hours now.

The two met multiple times during Trump's first term as president.

Here's a look back:

FILE PHOTO: Trump and Putin at the G20 in Hamburg, July 7, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

FILE PHOTO: Trump and Putin at the APEC summit in Danang, November 10, 2017. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS

FILE PHOTO: Trump meets Putin in Helsinki, July 16, 2018. REUTERS Kevin Lamarque via REUTERS

FILE PHOTO: Trump and Putin among world leaders for Armistice Day in Paris, November 11, 2018. Francois Mori/Pool via REUTERS

FILE PHOTO: Putin and Trump during the G20 in Buenos Aires, November 30, 2018. REUTERSMarcos Brindicci

FILE PHOTO: Putin with Trump at the G20 in Osaka, June 28, 2019. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS

According to a discussion paper by the EU's diplomatic service seen by Reuters on Friday, the EU should be prepared to go as far as doubling its military aid to Ukraine this year to 40 billion euros ($43 billion) if necessary.

The paper said the EU gave about 20 billion euros in military aid to Ukraine last year and encourages EU countries to do at least the same again in 2025, with the total "potentially reaching" 40 billion euros, depending on Kyiv's needs.

Read more here.

FILE PHOTO: EU and Ukrainian flag outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, February 24, 2025. REUTERS/Yves Herman

Russia is preparing itself for a confrontation with European democracies as the United States shifts its focus towards the Indo-Pacific region, European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday.

 "(Russia) has massively expanded its military-industrial production capacity... This investment fuels its war of aggression in Ukraine while preparing it for future confrontation with European democracies," she said, speaking at the Royal Danish Military Academy in Copenhagen.

While we're waiting for more from the Trump Putin call, here's a quick look back at the Russian leaders' meetings with his U.S. counterparts.

Putin has met with five sitting U.S. presidents since he became president of Russia in 2000.

BILL CLINTON

FILE PHOTO: Putin and Clinton in the Kremlin, June 3, 2000. REUTERS/Viktor Korotayev

Clinton visited Moscow for talks with Putin in June 2000. It was towards the end of the U.S. leader's time in office, but the start of what has turned out to be a marathon stint in power for the Russian leader. 

Relations were strained at the time over the way in which Russia was prosecuting the second Chechen war, NATO air strikes against the then Yugoslavia the previous year, and U.S. plans for an anti-missile system. 

GEORGE W. BUSH 

FILE PHOTO: Bush and Putin at Brdo castle, Slovenia, June 16, 2001. REUTERS/Michael Leckel

Bush and Putin held their first summit in Slovenia in 2001. Bush told reporters after the talks: "We had a very good dialogue, and I was able to get a sense of his soul." Putin also thought it went well, calling the meeting open and trusting. 

BARACK OBAMA 

FILE PHOTO: Obama and Putin in the residence Novo-Ogaryovo outside Moscow, July 7, 2009. REUTERS/RIA Novosti/Pool/Alexei Druzhinin

Putin in 2009 was prime minister, not president, but still regarded as Russia's paramount leader.

Obama held breakfast talks with Putin outside Moscow in July that year at one of Putin's residences. 

Obama praised Putin’s achievements, attempting to mend fences as part of a "reset" with the U.S.'s Cold War enemy.

Putin declared himself satisfied with what he called substantive talks. 

Then Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea, backed a separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine in 2014, and intervened in Syria in 2015 on the side of Bashar al-Assad.

The Putin-Obama relationship entered the deep freeze. 

DONALD TRUMP 

FILE PHOTO: Trump and Putin in Helsinki, Finland July 16, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

A 2018 summit in Helsinki was marked by bonhomie. It sparked a storm of criticism in the United States after Trump refused to blame the Russian leader for meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.

Trump later said he had misspoken and accused “some people” of hating the fact that he got along with Putin.

JOE BIDEN 

FILE PHOTO: Putin and Biden in Geneva, Switzerland, June 16, 2021. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Biden and Putin met in Geneva in 2021 amid strained relations.  

They both used careful pleasantries to describe their talks. Putin called them constructive and without hostility. Biden said there was no substitute for face-to-face discussions.

Russia's government has yet to comment on the ongoing call.

But before it started, the Kremlin said that Trump and Putin would discuss settling the conflict in Ukraine and normalizing relations between Russia and the United States and that they would speak "for as long as they deem necessary."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there was already a "certain understanding" between the two leaders, based on a phone call they held on February 12 and on subsequent high-level contacts between the two countries.

"But there are also a large number of questions regarding the further normalization of our bilateral relations, and a settlement on Ukraine. All of this will have to be discussed by the two presidents," Peskov told reporters.

Read more here.

As we wait to hear more on the Trump Putin call, here is a reminder of the framework mineral deal the U.S. and Ukraine tentatively agreed last month.

The deal, which is yet to be signed, would see the U.S. tap Ukraine's natural resources.

Titled "BILATERAL AGREEMENT ESTABLISHING TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR A RECONSTRUCTION INVESTMENT FUND," it lays out some details:

• The two countries will establish a Reconstruction Investment Fund to collect and reinvest revenues from Ukrainian resources. 
• Representatives from both countries will jointly manage the fund. 
• A subsequent agreement about the fund will be "negotiated promptly" after the conclusion of this agreement. 
• Ukraine will contribute to the fund 50% of revenues earned from relevant Ukrainian state-owned natural resources developed in the future. 
• The deal does not name the assets and says they will be defined in a later agreement that will go to a vote in parliament. 
• The assets are "defined as deposits of minerals, hydrocarbons, oil, natural gas, and other extractable materials, and other infrastructure relevant to natural resource assets (such as liquefied natural gas terminals and port infrastructure)." 
• "For the avoidance of doubt, such future sources of revenues do not include the current sources of revenues which are already part of the general budget revenues of Ukraine." 
• The fund will aim to invest in Ukrainian projects and attract investment in public and private assets including natural resources, infrastructure, ports and state-owned enterprises. 
• Contributions to the fund will be reinvested in Ukraine to promote "the safety, security and prosperity of Ukraine." 

Read more here 

A social media account for Russia Today, the English language Russian news service, joked on X on Tuesday about Trump's eagerness for a call.

Putin was speaking earlier at a Moscow business forum.

"Putin's speech at the conference lasted only 42 minutes, compared to 2.5 hours last year. Perhaps someone keeps relentlessly calling?" the post said, above a split-screen photo of Putin behind a podium on the left and Trump at the Oval Office desk with a phone to his ear on the right.

FILE PHOTO: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome, Italy, March 17, 2025. REUTERS/Remo Casilli

A plan spearheaded by Britain and France to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal with Russia is likely to prove ineffective, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told parliament on Tuesday.

Britain said on Monday a "significant number" of countries were willing to join the project, but Meloni ruled out any Italian involvement.

She reiterated that a better solution would be to extend NATO's mutual defence umbrella to Ukraine without offering it alliance membership.

We discuss Trump and Putin's planned call in Tuesday's Reuters World News podcast.

Follow on Apple or Spotify. Listen on the Reuters app. 

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is a prolific social media user and has relied on Twitter, now X, Instagram and other accounts to rally global support for Ukraine's defense against Russia's invasion.

But Zelenskiy has been quiet on social media as the call between Trump and Putin is expected to start this morning.

His last post on X, about 17 hours ago, seems to indirectly refer to the call and directly criticizes Putin, but does not mention Trump by name:

On Facebook and Instagram, Zelenskiy's most recent posts were about visiting Lviv and honoring Ukrainians killed in the war.

One of the key negotiation points in any future peace deal will be Europe’s largest nuclear plant. 

Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of risking an accident at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia facility in Ukraine with their actions. 

Europe's largest with six reactors, the power station was seized by Russian forces in the early days of Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

It produces no electricity at the moment. 

Power lines to the Zaporizhzia plant have been cut on several occasions, increasing the chance of a blackout that could cause a nuclear accident. 

The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has stationed monitors permanently at the plant and urged both sides to refrain from all attacks on it. 

The plant plays into a larger shift in Ukraine’s energy policy away from Russia and toward the European Union. 

After the invasion, Ukraine said it would disconnect its power grid from former soviet states, connecting it to the EU.

In July 2022, Ukraine began exporting electricity to the EU via Romania. Zelenskiy said this was the start of a process that could help its European allies further reduce their dependence on Russian oil and gas. 

The location of the plant on the Dnipro River and just 200 km (125 miles) from Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, also makes it a strategic target for Russian interests in the region. 

Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia, March 18, 2025. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/Pool

Western companies that left Russia will not be allowed to return for small amounts of money or into niches that local businesses have successfully filled, Putin said on Tuesday.

Putin said he had asked the government to keep an eye on Western companies that might have buyback deals and to ensure that every case is carefully considered.

The Russia leader was speaking at a business event in Moscow ahead of his scheduled call with Trump.

Putin also told Russian business leaders not to count on fully free trade or movement of capital being restored in the event of Western sanctions on Russia being eased.

"Our competitors will always want to weaken and contain us," Putin told a meeting with Russian businessmen.

"Even if one side will make a gesture and offer to lift or ease something another method of causing problems for us will be found immediately."

Trump faces a tough negotiator in Putin, who Ukraine's Zelenskiy has argued does not abide by agreements.

"There's a danger that he will try to basically create more noise in this conversation with President Trump, pretending to agree on something while at the same time demanding more and more concessions on the Ukrainian side," said Maria Snegovaya, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based policy research organization.

"The worst case scenario is that Putin is successful selling some sort of promising lucrative future deal with Russia to Trump," she said.