In Moscow, US President Donald Trump said that he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to discuss resolving the war in Ukraine.
This is what Trump said to reporters on Air Force One while returning from Florida to the Washington region. His remarks were: ‘We want to see if we can bring that war to an end. I think we have a great chance for it, but we might not be able to.’
“On Tuesday, President Putin and I will chat. Over the weekend, a great deal of work was accomplished.”
As both sides continued to exchange heavy aircraft strikes over the weekend and Russia took another step toward driving Ukrainian soldiers out of their months-old foothold in the western Russian region of Kursk, Trump is attempting to gain Putin’s backing for a 30-day truce proposal that Ukraine agreed last week.
When asked which concessions were being negotiated during ceasefire talks, Trump had replied,”Perhaps, we will talk about land.”
We’ll be discussing power plants.We have already discussed the division of some assets. Trump did not provide further details, but it seems likely that he was alluding to Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant, located in the Russian-occupied region of Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine have accused one another of putting the facility at risk of an accident through their actions.
Dmitry Peskov, the spokesperson for the Kremlin, said Monday that Putin will talk to Trump over the phone but refrained from commenting on Trump’s comments regarding land and power plants.
A very careful hope was expressed in the Kremlini that a compromise may be achieved to end the three-year-old conflict after Putin, through US envoy Steve Witkoff, who had discussions in Moscow on Friday, had passed a message to Trump regarding his ceasefire offer.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz, and Witkoff all made separate appearances on Sunday TV shows in the United States, stressing that obstacles must be overcome before Russia consents to a ceasefire, let alone a definitive peaceful end to the conflict.
Waltz replied, “Are we going to drive every Russian from every inch of Ukrainian soil?” when asked on ABC if America would ever support a Russian peace deal allowing the annexation of land in eastern Ukraine. The agreements, he added, have to be grounded in “reality.” On CBS, Marco Rubio stated that any final peace agreement would have to entail “concessions from both Russia and Ukraine” and added that it would be difficult to begin those discussions “as long as they’re shooting at each other.”
One person was hurt and a fire was started in Russia’s southern Astrakhan area after a nocturnal Ukrainian drone attack targeted energy infrastructure, according to the regional governor. The Ukrainian capital was the target of an overnight drone strike by Russia, according to the mayor of Kyiv on Monday.
GUARANTEES FOR “IRONCLAD”
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of Ukraine, stated Friday that he believed there was a good possibility to put an end to the Russian war after Kyiv agreed to the US proposal for a 30-day temporary truce.
Zelenskiy, however, has repeatedly stated that Russia must give up the territory it has taken and that his nation’s sovereignty cannot be compromised. Since invading Ukraine in 2022, Russia has dominated the majority of four eastern Ukrainian provinces, having taken control of the Crimea peninsula in 2014.
A Russian deputy foreign minister stated in comments released on Monday that Russia will want for “ironclad” assurances in any peace agreement that Kyiv will not be admitted to NATO and that Ukraine will maintain its neutrality.
A Russian media outlet failed to mention the cease-fire plan when Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko, in an interview with Izvestia, said, “Any peace treaty that should survive over long time must satisfy the demands of Moscow.”
Izvestia relayed Grushko’s comment that “We will insist on the incorporation of ironclad security guarantees into this agreement.”
“Such guarantees would include Ukraine’s neutral status and a NATO agreement to reject its membership.”
Putin has claimed that the threat posed by NATO’s gradual expansion to Russia’s security was the reason for his military invasion of Ukraine.
He has called for Ukraine to abandon its aspirations to join NATO, for Russia to maintain control over all occupied Ukrainian territory, and for the Ukrainian army to be kept to a minimum strength. He also wants a presidential election in Ukraine, which Kyiv claims is premature while martial law is in effect, and an easing of Western sanctions.
Russian demands for a ceasefire, according to European Union foreign policy leader Kaja Kallas, on Monday demonstrated Moscow’s lack of genuine interest in peace.
Those who uphold peace
The Ukrainian leader left the White House early last month after Zelenskiy was scolded by Trump, who has changed US policy by becoming more friendly to Moscow.
However, Ukraine’s acceptance of a planned ceasefire would test the US president’s more favourable opinion of Putin and has now placed the pressure on Russia to comply with Trump’s requests.
On Saturday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had said defense chiefs would finalize “robust plans” next week in an increased effort by Western allies other than the United States to defend Ukraine in case of a ceasefire with Russia.
Grushko from Russia said: “If they seem there, it means that they are deployed in the conflict zone with all the consequences for these contingents being parties to the conflict.”
“Unarmed observers, a civilian mission that would oversee the execution of specific provisions of this agreement, or assurance mechanisms are some options we can discuss. Meanwhile, it’s just hot air.
