Key points
- Trump is making efforts to win Putin’s support for a ceasefire proposal
- Putin acknowledges Trump’s diplomatic efforts
- G7 leaders urge Russia to accept a ceasefire without conditions
ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump has said he planned to speak to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin Tuesday to discuss ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.
AFP reported that Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One he was already discussing dividing up “certain assets” between Ukraine and Russia.
Reuters cited Trump as saying “We want to see if we can bring that war to an end. Maybe we can, maybe we can’t, but I think we have a very good chance.”
A ceasefire proposal
Trump is making efforts to win Putin’s support for a 30-day ceasefire proposal that Ukraine accepted last week, as both sides continued trading heavy aerial strikes through the weekend.
“We will be talking about land. We will be talking about power plants,” Trump said, when asked about concessions. “I think we have a lot of it already discussed very much by both sides, Ukraine and Russia. We are already talking about that, dividing up certain assets.”
Earlier, Trump’s envoy for the Ukraine war, Steve Witkoff, who recently met Putin for several hours, told CNN in a televised interview that he believed “the two presidents are going to have a really good and positive discussion this week.”
Diplomatic efforts
In Moscow, Putin acknowledged Trump’s diplomatic efforts, saying that the US leader was “doing everything” to restore US-Russia relations, which he claimed had been damaged under the previous American administration.
“We know that the new administration headed by President Trump is doing everything to restore at least something of what was basically destroyed,” Putin told Russian security officials.
The White House maintains that the negotiations represent the closest point to peace since the war began.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the talks between Putin and Witkoff in Moscow were “productive,” adding that Trump had been “putting pressure on Putin and the Russians to do the right thing.”
G7 summit
At the G7 summit in Quebec, Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said all member states supported the US proposal for a ceasefire.
“We are now studying and looking at Russian reactions, so ultimately the ball is now in Russia’s court when it comes to Ukraine,” Joly stated.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said that G7 members were united in calling for a ceasefire “without conditions.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also reiterated that any resolution must come through negotiations. “The only way to end this war is through a process of negotiations,” Rubio said following the meeting.
