Trump denies talking to Putin about stopping military aid to Ukraine

U.S. President Donald Trump refuted assertions from the Kremlin that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed ending military aid to Ukraine during their recent phone call.

Speaking to Fox News, Trump dismissed the notion that aid was a topic.

"We didn't talk about aid, we didn't talk about aid at all," he said. "We talked about a lot things but aid was never discussed."

The Kremlin, following the March 18 conversation, claimed Putin demanded a full stop to military assistance and intelligence sharing with Ukraine to "prevent escalation" and pursue a "politico-diplomatic resolution" to the conflict.

The over-90-minute call yielded other agreements: Putin committed to a 30-day pause on strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure, reportedly ordering his military accordingly, and announced a March 19 prisoner swap of 175 captives per side, plus a "goodwill gesture" of returning 23 severely wounded Ukrainian soldiers.

Trump said they also agreed to "work quickly" toward a full ceasefire and an end to the "horrible war" between Russia and Ukraine.