Timeline of how Trump’s pledge to end the war in Ukraine hit reality

By Antoinette Radford, CNN

Over the past two months, the United States has been talking with both Ukraine and Russia –
separately – to try to fulfil one of President Donald Trump’s main campaign promises: ending
the war in Ukraine. Trump repeatedly touted that he would end the war within 24 hours of taking
office if elected president, but there is no sign yet of a real breakthrough.

Trump has walked back from his pledge – first extending the self-imposed deadline to six
months, then saying he was being “a little bit sarcastic” about the 24-hour timeframe.

More recently the president said in an interview with Newsmax that Moscow could be “dragging
their feet” on a ceasefire deal.

And while Russia has said it agrees in principle to the US ceasefire proposals, it has consistently
come up with “buts” and “only ifs” that undermine any deals.

Here’s how the ceasefire negotiations have played out so far:

January 20: Trump is inaugurated as president of the United States. On the campaign trail,
Trump had promised to end the war in Ukraine in a day.

February 12: Trump announces he has called Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss a
possible ceasefire deal between Ukraine and Russia. It’s the first known conversation between
the presidents since Trump assumed office in January.

The call marks a U-turn on years of US foreign policy and takes European allies by
surprise. Moscow illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region in 2014 – and launched a full-scale
invasion of the country in 2022.

Later the same day, Trump calls Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to inform him about
his conversation with Putin and his plans to end the war in Ukraine.

February 15: The White House says top officials will travel to Saudi Arabia to meet
with Russian officials to begin talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.

February 17: Kyiv and its European allies express disappointment over their exclusion from the
talks, stressing that no deal can be done without Ukraine at the table. An emergency summit is
held in Paris with European and NATO leaders.

February 18: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey
Lavrov in Riyadh. National security adviser Mike Waltz and Trump’s foreign envoy Steve
Witkoff also attend the first round of the talks.

Speaking after the talks, Rubio says concessions will have to be made by “all sides” to end the
war. Meanwhile, Trump criticizes Zelensky, who says he won’t accept a deal made in Ukraine’s
absence.
February 28: Zelensky travels to the US, where he was expected to sign a minerals deal with
the country. However, the meeting descends into a chaotic argument between Zelensky and
Trump after Vice President JD Vance attacks Zelensky and suggests Ukraine should use
diplomacy to end the war, accusing him of not wanting peace.

Vance’s suggestion surprises Zelensky and an unusually public argument erupts between the
three leaders.

The meeting ends with Zelensky being asked to leave early, with no sign of a deal.

March 1: The meeting-gone-wrong rattles European leaders, who convene an emergency

March 2: Zelensky receives a warm welcome in the UK, where he is greeted by King Charles
III.

March 3: Trump says he will be withholding shipments of military aid to Ukraine. The pause
applies to all aid not yet inside Ukraine, officials say. Within Europe and Ukraine, officials
scramble to assess the impact of the pause and make a plan to keep Ukraine armed.

March 4: Zelensky issues a public statement, saying the Oval Office meeting did not go to
plan and reiterating that Ukraine is ready to sign the minerals deal. He stops short of apologizing.

March 5: The US announces it will stop sharing crucial intelligence with the country. Later that
day, Ukrainian and US officials say they have agreed to meet “in the near future.”

March 11: Ukraine agrees in principle to a US ceasefire proposal following talks between the
two countries in Saudi Arabia, and the US agrees to reinstate military and intelligence sharing.

March 13: Witkoff travels to Moscow to brief Kremlin officials on the US-proposed plan. Putin
says he agrees in principle but then presents a list of demands that make the plan impossible to
carry out.

March 18: Trump speaks to Putin on the phone but fails to convince him to sign on to the
ceasefire agreement.

March 19: Trump and Zelensky speak on the phone. Trump says the call was “very good,” and
lasted roughly one hour, with much of the conversation focusing on his conversation with Putin
on the previous day.

March 21: The southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa is struck by a large-scale Russian drone
attack.

March 23: US and Ukrainian officials meet in Saudi Arabia. Ukraine’s Defense Minister
Rustem Umerov describes the talks as “productive and focused.”

March 24: US officials meet with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia.

March 25: By the afternoon, the White House says Ukraine and Russia have agreed to “ensure
safe navigation, eliminate the use of force, and prevent the use of commercial vessels for military
purposes in the Black Sea.”
Zelensky tells a news conference that Kyiv has agreed to stop using military force in the Black
Sea but, shortly after, the Kremlin says it will only agree provided financial sanctions are lifted
on key Russian institutions – thereby making the deal void.

March 26: Ahead of a meeting of the so-called “coalition of the willing” in Paris, Zelensky says
he hopes America will secure the Black Sea agreement without conceding to Russia’s demands.

March 27: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Polish
Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Turkish Vice President
Cevdet Yılmaz join France’s President Emmanuel Macron and Zelensky for what will be the
third meeting of the “coalition of the willing” in Paris. The alliance says it’s not the time to lift
sanctions on Russia.

Zelensky later says the conditions of the minerals deal being negotiated between Ukraine and the
US are “constantly changing,” but that overall Ukraine feels positively toward a future
agreement.

March 28: Four civilians are killed in a Russian strike on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro,
authorities say. Zelensky also rules out direct peace talks with Putin, saying he would rather
negotiate with Russian businessmen or the opposition.

March 30: Trump tells NBC News he could impose additional tariffs on Russian oil if Putin
doesn’t cooperate in ongoing negotiations to end his war in Ukraine.