Trump: Russia and Ukraine to Begin Immediate Ceasefire Talks

U.S. President Donald Trump has stated that Russia and Ukraine will immediately begin negotiations toward a ceasefire.

He made the remark following a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, adding that he was not prepared to join Europe in imposing new sanctions aimed at pressuring Moscow.

However, the Kremlin noted that the negotiation process would take time.

In a social media post, Trump said he relayed the plan to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as well as the leaders of the European Union, France, Italy, Germany and Finland in a group call following his session with the Russian leader.

“Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War,” Trump said, adding later at the White House that he thought “some progress is being made.”

Putin thanked Trump for supporting the resumption of direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv after the two sides met in Turkey last week for their first face-to-face negotiations since March 2022. But after the Monday call he said only that efforts were “generally on the right track”.

“We have agreed with the president of the United States that Russia will propose and is ready to work with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum on a possible future peace accord,” Putin told reporters near the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

Source: Reuters