On Monday, US President Donald Trump announced his intention to talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. It is probable that the two leaders will talk about bringing an end to the war in Ukraine.
“I’ll be speaking to President Putin on Tuesday. A lot of work’s been done over the weekend,” Trump stated to reporters aboard Air Force One during a late flight returning to the Washington area from Florida.
This follows remarks by White House special envoy Steve Witkoff, who stated earlier on Sunday that a phone call between Trump and Putin could occur this week. He also mentioned that the US is maintaining its dialogue and involvement with Ukraine as well.
“I expect that there’ll be a call with both presidents this week. And we’re also continuing to engage and have conversation with the Ukrainians,” Witkoff said on CNN’s State of the Union.
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On Friday, Kremlin representative Dmitry Peskov stated that Putin requested Witkoff to send messages to Trump in anticipation of a potential phone conversation and noted there was “cautious optimism” regarding the chance of a ceasefire agreement, as reported by the Interfax news agency.
Trump is attempting to gain Putin’s backing for a 30-day ceasefire plan that Ukraine agreed to last week, while both parties continued to execute substantial aerial attacks over the weekend and Russia edged closer to removing Ukrainian troops from their long-held position in the western Russian area of Kursk.
“We will be talking about land. We will be talking about power plants,” Trump said, when asked about concessions.
Only a week ago, Witkoff had a meeting with Putin in Moscow following Ukraine’s agreement to the US suggestion of a 30-day ceasefire during discussions taking place in Saudi Arabia. However, the mentioned proposal was declined by Putin, who insists that there are still matters that require resolution.
