Article Title: Trump hails productive truce talks; urges Putin to spare Kyiv’s soldiers
16-03-2025
International Relations Current Affairs Analysis
Context
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday his administration had “productive” talks with Russia about a ceasefire in Ukraine, urging counterpart Vladimir Putin to spare Ukrainian soldiers on the front line.
Mr. Trump envoy Steve Witkoff met Mr. Putin late Thursday to lay out the details of a joint U.S. Ukrainian plan, which envisages a 30-day pause in hostilities between Moscow and Kyiv after three years of war. “We had very good and productive discussions with President Vladimir Putin of Russia yesterday, and there is a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end,” Mr. Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform
Mapping of Ukraine
Ukraine shares the border with seven other countries:Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Russia, and Belarus.
Dnieper / Dnipro river flows through Ukraine. Ukraine’s capital Kyiv is located on banks of Dnieper River
Hotspot areas – Kherson, Odessa port, Mariupol, Kharkiv, Donbas etc.
Mapping of Black Sea
Countries around Black Sea – Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia and Turkey
It is linked to theSea of Marmarathrough theBosphorus Straitand then to theAegean Sea(an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea) through theDardanelles Strait.
The Turkish straits system(the Dardanelles, Bosphorus and the Marmara Sea) formsa transitional zone between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
The Black Sea is also connected to theSea of Azov by the Strait of Kerch.
The Black Sea is supplied by major rivers, principally theDanube(the second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia),Dnieper and Dniester.
"UPSC-2026-PRELIMS COMBINED MAINS PROGRAMME" NEW BATCH STARTS WITH ORIENTATION ON MAY 12th,2025 
