The leaders are scheduled to talk between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. ET, a spokesperson for Putin stated
President Donald Trump is to carry talks on Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin as he appears to be like to get buy-in on a U.S. ceasefire proposal he hopes can create a pathway to ending Russia’s devastating battle on Ukraine.
The White Home is optimistic that peace is inside attain whilst Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stays skeptical that Putin is doing a lot past paying lip service to Trump as Russian forces proceed to pound his nation.
The engagement is simply the newest flip in dramatically shifting U.S.-Russia relations as Trump made shortly ending the battle a prime precedence — even on the expense of straining ties with longtime American allies who need Putin to pay a worth for the invasion.
“It’s a bad situation in Russia, and it’s a bad situation in Ukraine,” Trump advised reporters on Monday. “What’s happening in Ukraine is not good, but we’re going to see if we can work a peace agreement, a ceasefire and peace. And I think we’ll be able to do it.”
In preparation for the Trump-Putin name, White Home particular envoy Steve Witkoff met final week with Putin in Moscow to debate the proposal. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had persuaded senior Ukrainian officers throughout talks in Saudi Arabia to conform to the ceasefire framework.
The U.S. president stated Washington and Moscow have already begun discussing “dividing up sure property” between Ukraine and Russia as a part of a deal to finish the battle.
Trump, who throughout his marketing campaign pledged to shortly finish the battle, has at moments boasted of his relationship with Putin and blamed Ukraine for Russia’s unprovoked invasion, all whereas accusing Zelenskyy of unnecessarily prolonging the largest land battle in Europe since World Conflict II.
Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov advised reporters on Tuesday that Trump and Putin will focus on the battle in Ukraine however added that there are additionally a “giant variety of questions” concerning normalizing U.S.-Russia relations. The decision will happen between 1 p.m. GMT and three p.m. GMT (9 a.m. ET to 11 a.m. ET), Peskov stated.
Trump has stated that management of land and energy crops shall be a part of the dialog, which comes on the anniversary of Russia annexing Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula 11 years in the past. That daring land seize by Russia set the stage for Russia to invade its neighbor in 2022.
Witkoff and White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt steered that U.S. and Russian officers have mentioned the destiny of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear energy plant — Europe’s largest — in southern Ukraine.
The plant has been caught within the crossfire since Moscow despatched troops into Ukraine in 2022 and seized the ability shortly after. The U.N.’s Worldwide Atomic Vitality Company has repeatedly expressed alarm about it, fueling fears of a possible nuclear disaster.
The plant is a major asset, producing almost 1 / 4 of Ukraine’s electrical energy within the yr earlier than the battle.
“I can say we are on the 10th yard line of peace,” Leavitt stated. “And we’ve never been closer to a peace deal than we are in this moment. And the president, as you know, is determined to get one done.”
However Bradley Bowman, senior director of the Heart on Navy and Political Energy on the Basis for Protection of Democracies, questioned whether or not Putin is able to finish the battle or will maintain out for potential additional concessions as Trump grows impatient.
After a disastrous Feb. 28 White Home assembly with Zelenskyy, Trump briefly lower off some navy intelligence-sharing and support to Ukraine. It was restored after the Ukrainians final week signed off on the Trump administration’s 30-day ceasefire proposal.
“The U.S. has been consistently offering in some form preemptive concessions that have been weakening the American and Ukrainian negotiating position,” Bowman said. “I think there’s a real danger here that the administration’s approach is boiling down to sticks for Ukraine and carrots for Putin.”
Zelensky in his nightly video tackle on Monday made clear he stays uncertain that Putin is prepared for peace.
“Now, almost a week later, it’s clear to everyone in the world — even to those who refused to acknowledge the truth for the past three years — that it is Putin who continues to drag out this war,” Zelenskyy stated.
In his dealings with Zelenskyy and Putin, Trump has ceaselessly centered on who has the leverage. Putin has “the cards” and Zelenskyy doesn’t, Trump has stated repeatedly.
Trump, who has lengthy proven admiration for Putin, has additionally made clear he’d prefer to see the U.S.-Russia relationship return to a extra regular footing.
The president throughout his current contentious assembly with Zelenskyy grumbled that “Putin went by way of a hell of loads with me,” a reference to the federal investigation into Russian interference within the 2016 presidential election through which he beat Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Trump on Monday once more underscored his view that Ukraine just isn’t in a powerful negotiating place. He stated Russian forces have “surrounded” Ukrainian troops in Russia’s Kursk area — amplifying an assertion made by Russian officers that is been refuted by Zelenskyy.
Ukraine’s military surprised Russia in August final yr by attacking throughout the border and taking management of an estimated 1,300 sq. kilometers (500 sq. miles) of land. However Ukraine’s forces are actually in retreat and it has all however misplaced a invaluable bargaining chip, as momentum builds for a ceasefire with Russia.
Zelenskyy has acknowledged that the Ukrainians are on their again foot however refutes Russian claims that they’ve encircled his troops in Kursk.
Trump steered that he is taken unspecified motion that has stored Russia from slaughtering Ukrainian troops in Kursk.
“They’re surrounded by Russian soldiers, and I believe if it wasn’t for me they wouldn’t be here any longer,” Trump stated.
