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Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are due to hold a call for the Russia-Ukra war next week, a US official said, as Washington is trying to mediate a ceasefire agreement.
Trump spokesman Steve Vitkoff told SI -N on Sunday that he had a “positive” meeting with Putin and that Russian and Ukrainian parties are “much closer today” in the negotiations.
“I expect there will be a call with the two presidents this week and we also continue to join and talk to the Ukrainians,” he said.
Comments come after the United States and its partners in G7 on Friday warned Moscow that they could expand sanctions and use frozen Russian means to support Ukraine, as Trump is trying to conquer Putin on his ceasefire proposal. The joint statement followed a week in which Kyiv applied for 30-day truce But Moscow has signaled unwillingness to do so immediately.
Vitkoff told Si -N that he was witnessing improvements to the ceasefire negotiations. The sides were “miles separated”, he said.
After talks in Saudi Arabia, led by US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and US Secretary of State Marko Rubio, as well as Vitkoff’s “equally positive” meeting with Putin, “we have reduced the differences between them and now we are sitting at the table,” he added.
The White House and Russia Embassy in Washington did not respond immediately to commentary requests.
The lawmaker told CBS that negotiations are complex, including more angles and large territory, including a “main area of confrontation” in the Kursk region, a nuclear reactor that supplies electricity to Ukraine and access to ports.
“There are so many elements for a ceasefire,” Vitkoff said, adding that “it involves how to get people not fight each other above the 2,000 -kilometer border.”
He also seemed to reject a statement made by French President Emmanuel Macron, who claims Russia “does not seem to sincerely seek peace.”
Vitkoff declined to comment on Macron’s remarks, but added: “I think it’s unfortunate when people make such assessments and have no, necessarily first hand. . . I saw a constructive effort over a long period of time to discuss the specifics of what is happening on the ground. “
Asked when he thinks there will be a deal, Vitkoff cited Trump, who said it would take weeks.
“I disagree with him,” the representative told SI -N.
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