White House says Trump has not yet spoken with Putin

It has been revealed that US President Donald Trump's social media post regarding a talk with Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin related to Putin's meeting with US Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, rather than a direct conversation between the two leaders.

As reported by the Guardian, the White House explained the confusion, which arose from Trump's social media post, in which he welcomed the discussion with the Kremlin leader and said he had "strongly requested" Putin to "spare the lives" of Ukrainian servicemen allegedly encircled in Russian Kursk Oblast, giving the impression that he had spoken with him directly.

Trump said on social media that Washington had "very good and productive discussions" with Putin.

On 13 March, Witkoff visited Moscow.

On the same day, Putin responded cautiously to the US proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine, neither rejecting it outright nor accepting it, but suggesting that Moscow might set its own conditions.

On 14 March, the Kremlin stated that "additional signals" had been transmitted to Trump through him.