US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to speak by phone in a potentially key step towards ending the war in Ukraine, following a three-year Russian invasion.

"I'm going to talk to President Putin today. A lot of work was done over the weekend," Trump said. "We want to see if we can end this war. "Maybe we can, maybe we can't, but I think we have a very good chance," Trump said.

Western media reports that Trump is trying to get Putin's support for the 30-day ceasefire proposal that Ukraine accepted last week, as the two sides continued to exchange heavy air strikes over the weekend and Russia faces a complete pushback of Ukrainian troops from their months-long fighting position in the western Russian region of Kursk.

"We're going to talk about land. We're going to talk about power plants. I think we've already talked a lot about that with both sides, Ukraine and Russia. We're already talking about that, sharing certain resources," Trump said when asked about the concessions.

The comments came hours after his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said the Russian president "accepts the philosophy" of Trump's terms for a ceasefire and peace.

Witkoff told CNN that talks with Putin over several hours last week were "positive" and "solution-based."

However, he would not confirm, when asked whether Putin's demands included the surrender of Ukrainian forces in Kursk, international recognition of Ukrainian territory that Russia has seized as Russian, restrictions on Ukraine's ability to mobilize forces, a suspension of Western military aid and a ban on foreign peacekeepers.

Putin said on Thursday he supports a ceasefire but outlined a number of details that must be part of the negotiations before an agreement can be reached. Moscow, among other things, strongly opposes the deployment of European troops to provide security guarantees for Ukraine after a possible ceasefire.

Both sides expressed optimism about recent talks between Washington and Moscow, but agreed that only a high-level call could resolve the most difficult issues in the 30-day ceasefire.

Ukraine has agreed to a ceasefire, but both Kiev and European capitals are skeptical that Putin may be stalling and question whether Trump is willing to use influence over a leader with whom he appears intent on rebuilding ties.

The talks between Trump and Putin come as the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has literally collapsed. The ceasefire, which came into effect on January 19 after two years of fierce fighting, was initiated by Trump himself and was portrayed as a major success of the new US administration.

This morning, Israel fired a large number of missiles at Hamas, killing at least 300 people.

This is the largest wave of airstrikes in Gaza since the ceasefire began on January 19. Negotiations to extend the ceasefire in Gaza have not been successful.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the attacks.

Israel consulted with US President Donald Trump's administration before carrying out the attack, a White House spokesman told Fox News.

Negotiators are trying to find a way forward after the first phase of the temporary ceasefire ended on March 1st.

The war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas killed more than 1.200 people in southern Israel, most of them civilians, and took 251 hostages.

The attack triggered an Israeli military offensive that has since killed more than 48.520 people, mostly civilians, figures recorded by the Hamas Health Ministry and used by the United Nations.

Most of Gaza's 2,1 million residents have been displaced multiple times.

An estimated 70% of buildings are damaged or destroyed, health, water and sanitation systems are collapsing, and there are shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter.

Full analysis in the video above in the text