KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President Donald Trump’s calls with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine deepened expectations that progress might soon be made on ending those countries’ more than three-year war, though frustration at the slow pace of negotiations and the absence of any significant breakthrough kept hopes low. “It is obvious that Russia is trying […]
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Slow progress on Russia-Ukraine peace deal
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KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President Donald Trump’s calls with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine deepened expectations that progress might soon be made on ending those countries’ more than three-year war, though frustration at the slow pace of negotiations and the absence of any significant breakthrough kept hopes low.
“It is obvious that Russia is trying to buy time to continue the war and occupation,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday on Telegram. “We are working with partners to put pressure on the Russians to behave differently,” he added in an apparent reference to further international sanctions on Russia.
Ukraine has offered a comprehensive 30-day ceasefire, which Moscow has effectively rejected by imposing far-reaching conditions, and Zelenskyy proposed a face-to-face meetingwith Russian President Vladimir Putin but the Russian leader spurned that offer.
Trump said his personal intervention was needed to push peace efforts forward, and on Monday he held separate talks over the phone with Zelenskyy and Putin.
Russia and Ukraine will “immediately” begin ceasefire negotiations, Trump announced, though there was no detail on exactly when or where such talks might take place and who might attend them.
Putin wants Ukraine to renounce joining NATO, sharply cut its army, and withdraw its forces from the four Ukrainian regions Moscow has seized but doesn’t fully control, among other demands.
U.S. officials have for the past few months urged Russia and Ukraine to reach a settlement, as Trump sought a swift end to Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II.
Trump said his talks with Putin on Monday were “excellent,” but European officials were skeptical about Russia’s intentions.
The warring countries are insisting on what appear to be irreconcilable conditions for peace, and even a temporary truce has been out of reach.
The first direct Russia-Ukraine peace talks since the early weeks of Moscow’s 2022 invasion ended after less than two hours last Friday, and while both sides agreed on a large prisoner swap, they clearly remained far apart on key conditions for ending the fighting.