United States President Donald Trump will probably speak this week with his Russian pair Vladimir Putin as discussions intensify about the mediation of a ceasefire in Ukraine, Trump’s foreigner Steve Witkoff said on Sunday (16).
“I think the two presidents will have a very good and positive discussion this week,” Witkoff told Jake Tapper on the “State of the Union” program from CNN Internationalsaying later that he expected a ceasefire agreement to be reached within a few weeks.
The conversation of the two leaders will take place after a night meeting last week in Moscow between Witkoff and Putin, which the envoy described as a “solution -based discussion.”
He refused to detail what Putin conditions he is imposing on a ceasefire, but acknowledged that the regions controlled by Russia within Ukraine will be part of the discussions about the end of the war.
Critical point
The issue of land concessions is among the most sensitive topics in peaceful peace negotiations. US authorities said Ukraine will probably have to give up territory for the war to end, and.
But granting territory has been one, and some European leaders have expressed concern about the possibility of rewarding Putin for launching their invasion.
Speaking on Sunday, Trump’s advisors described the ongoing peace negotiations as productive, but did not say how the issue of territorial concessions would be resolved.
Witkoff said the Russian leader “accepts President Trump’s philosophy” to want to see the war end and expressed confidence that a break in the fight can happen in a few weeks.
What Trump said about negotiations
In an interview released on Friday (14), Trump said he hoped to know “a little more” about a possible ceasefire agreement between Russia and Ukraine until Monday (17).
Over the weekend, Trump said the meetings in Moscow were “very productive” and that all signs seem to be “very good” after Witkoff meetings in Russia.
With information from Alejandra Jaramillo and Sam Waldenberg, from CNN Internacional
