U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are anticipated to talk this week, officers mentioned on Sunday, as Washington and Kyiv’s Ecu allies press Moscow to simply accept a ceasefire within the three-year battle.
The USA this week proposed a halt in combating within the battle after talks in Saudi Arabia, with Kyiv accepting the proposal.
Putin then again has given no transparent solution, as a substitute checklist a string of prerequisites and elevating “critical questions” over the proposition.
Trump’s envoy for the struggle, Steve Witkoff, who met for a number of hours with Putin days in the past, instructed CNN in a televised interview that he thinks “the 2 presidents are going to have a in reality just right and sure dialogue this week.”
Previous Moscow mentioned that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio known as his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and that the pair had mentioned “concrete facets of the implementation of understandings” at a U.S.-Russia summit in Saudi Arabia final month.
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday accused the Kremlin of no longer in need of to finish the battle and warned that Moscow sought after to first “enhance their scenario at the battlefield” earlier than agreeing to any ceasefire.
The February Riyadh amassing was once the primary high-level assembly between the USA and Russia since Moscow introduced its invasion in February 2022.
“Sergei Lavrov and Marco Rubio agreed to stay in touch,” the Russian Overseas Ministry mentioned, and not using a point out of the U.S.-suggested ceasefire.
State Division spokeswoman Tammy Bruce mentioned Saturday that the pair had “mentioned the following steps” on Ukraine.
She additionally mentioned Rubio and Lavrov “agreed to proceed running towards restoring conversation between the USA and Russia.”
The Lavrov-Rubio name got here hours after the U.Okay. hosted a digital summit on Ukraine, with Top Minister Keir Starmer accusing Putin of “dragging his toes” at the ceasefire.
“The ‘sure, however’ from Russia isn’t just right sufficient,” Starmer mentioned, calling for a prevent to the “barbaric assaults on Ukraine as soon as and for all.”
Kyiv day after today mentioned Russia introduced 90 Iranian-made Shahed drones onto 9 Ukrainian areas.
In his response to the ceasefire previous this week, Putin mentioned the initiative would get advantages basically Ukraine and no longer Russian forces, who he mentioned are “advancing” in lots of spaces.
He raised “critical questions” over the initiative.
The proposal got here as Russia — which occupies swaths of southern and jap Ukraine — has had momentum in some spaces of the entrance.
It has ousted Ukrainian forces from portions of its Kursk area, the place Kyiv hopes to carry onto Russian territory as a possible bargaining chip in any long run negotiations.
Putin mentioned he sought after to talk about Moscow’s issues with Trump in a telephone name.
Zelensky mentioned Saturday that by way of no longer agreeing to the ceasefire, Putin was once additionally going towards Trump — who has made overtures towards Russia — and accused Moscow of looking for techniques to not finish the battle.
He accused Putin of “mendacity about how a ceasefire is supposedly too difficult.”
Ukraine mentioned Sunday that one individual was once killed by way of a Russian drone strike at the town of Izyum — within the Kharkiv area, which fell to Russia firstly of its Ukraine invasion earlier than being retaken by way of Kyiv’s forces.
