President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are expected to hold talks this week as ceasefire negotiations between Russia and Ukraine continue. The two leaders are likely to discuss potential paths toward de-escalating the ongoing conflict, with Trump previously signaling his willingness to mediate in an effort to bring peace to the region.
Special envoy Steve Witkoff announced that Trump is set to speak with Putin in a continued effort to end the fighting in the Russian-Ukrainian war, following talks in Saudi Arabia, where Kyiv has agreed to the proposal. While Putin has expressed support for a peace deal, he has yet to accept the 30-day ceasefire agreement that U.S. officials helped broker in Saudi Arabia. Instead, Putin has given several conditions and raised “serious questions” over the proposal.
“I expect that there will be a call with both presidents this week, and we're also continuing to engage and have conversations with the Ukrainians," Witkoff said during an appearance on CNN Sunday.
“President Trump is the ultimate decision maker, our decision maker, and President Putin, for the country of Russia, is their decision maker,” he added. “I think the two presidents are going to have a really good and positive discussion this week.”
However, the specifics of what Trump and Putin's discussion will cover remain uncertain.
Witkoff echoed Trump’s timeframe of a few weeks before a ceasefire deal is accepted, saying that he is “really hopeful” there will be real progress soon. He met with Putin in Moscow on Thursday and described his meeting as “positive” and a “solutions-based discussion.”
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The Trump special envoy brushed off concerns raised by French President Emmanuel Macron, who questioned Putin's genuine intent for peace. Witkoff, however, stood firm, stating that he trusted his own observations of both the conversations and Putin's body language.
“I saw a constructive effort, over a long period of time, to discuss the specifics of what’s going on in the field,” he said, pushing back on Macron’s comments.
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