U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are anticipated to converse this week, officers mentioned on Sunday (March 16, 2025), as Washington and Kyiv’s European allies press Moscow to settle for a ceasefire within the three-year conflict.
The United States this week proposed a halt in combating within the conflict after talks in Saudi Arabia, with Kyiv accepting the proposal.
Mr. Putin nonetheless has given no clear reply, as an alternative itemizing a string of situations and elevating “serious questions” over the proposition.
Trump’s envoy for the battle, Steve Witkoff, who met for a number of hours with Mr. Putin days in the past, informed CNN in a televised interview that he thinks “the two presidents are going to have a really good and positive discussion this week.”
Earlier the Moscow mentioned that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio referred to as his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and that the pair had mentioned “concrete aspects of the implementation of understandings” at a U.S.-Russia summit in Saudi Arabia final month.
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday accused the Kremlin of not wanting to finish the conflict and warned that Moscow needed to first “improve their situation on the battlefield” earlier than agreeing to any ceasefire.
The February Riyadh gathering was the primary high-level assembly between the United States and Russia since Moscow launched its invasion in February 2022.
“Sergei Lavrov and Marco Rubio agreed to remain in contact,” the Russian overseas ministry mentioned, with no point out of the US-suggested ceasefire.
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce mentioned Saturday that the pair had “discussed the next steps” on Ukraine.
She additionally mentioned Mr. Rubio and Mr. Lavrov “agreed to continue working towards restoring communication between the United States and Russia”.
The Lavrov-Rubio name got here hours after the UK hosted a digital summit on Ukraine, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer accusing Putin of “dragging his feet” on the ceasefire.
“The ‘yes, but’ from Russia is not good enough,” Mr. Starmer mentioned, calling for a cease to the “barbaric attacks on Ukraine once and for all”.
Kyiv the subsequent day mentioned Russia launched 90 Iranian-made Shahed drones onto 9 Ukrainian areas.
Zelensky says Putin ‘mendacity’
In his response to the ceasefire earlier this week, Mr. Putin mentioned the initiative would profit primarily Ukraine and never Russian forces, who he mentioned are “advancing” in lots of areas.
He raised “serious questions” over the initiative.
The proposal got here as Russia — which occupies swathes of southern and japanese Ukraine — has had momentum in some areas of the entrance.
It has ousted Ukrainian forces from elements of its Kursk area, the place Kyiv hopes to maintain onto Russian territory as a possible bargaining chip in any future negotiations.
Mr. Putin mentioned he needed to discuss Moscow’s considerations with Mr. Trump in a cellphone name.
Mr. Zelenskyy mentioned Saturday that by not agreeing to the ceasefire, Putin was additionally going in opposition to Mr. Trump — who has made overtures in direction of Russia — and accused Moscow of attempting to discover methods not to finish the conflict.
He accused Putin of “lying about how a ceasefire is supposedly too complicated”.
Ukraine mentioned Sunday that one particular person was killed by a Russian drone strike on town of Izyum — within the Kharkiv area, which fell to Russia at the beginning of its Ukraine invasion earlier than being retaken by Kyiv’s forces.
Published – March 16, 2025 08:36 pm IST
