The United States and Russia are preparing to meet in the Middle East to conduct negotiations that will hopefully end the invasion of Ukraine.
The White House said following the conversation that preliminary ceasefire negotiations will begin soon, citing “the need for improved bilateral relations between the United States and Russia.”
“The blood and treasure that both Ukraine and Russia have been spending in this war would be better spent on the needs of their people,” the White House readout stated.
“This conflict should never have started and should have been ended long ago with sincere and good faith peace efforts,” the readout continued. “The leaders agreed that the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire, as well as technical negotiations on implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace. These negotiations will begin immediately in the Middle East.”
It’s another half-step toward peace as Ukraine urges the U.S. to force Russia into agreement with the peace deal parameters drafted at a bilateral meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, last week.
Russian officials walked away from the Tuesday phone call with positive attitudes, with Putin envoy Kirill Dmitriev posting on social media that “under the leadership of President Putin and President Trump,” the world “has become a much safer place today.”
Putin has played coy about his country’s willingness to end hostilities with Ukraine after gaining a significant upper hand on the front lines. Russia has surged further into Ukrainian territory and reclaimed tracts of the occupied Kursk region.
US TO WITHDRAW FROM BODY INVESTIGATING RUSSIAN RESPONSIBILITY FOR UKRAINE WAR
Trump is taking a less aggressive posture dealing with Putin than he did with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he called a “dictator” and warmonger over perceived unwillingness to sign immediately onto U.S. proposals for peace.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters before the call on Tuesday that the two presidents have a “certain understanding” that will help reach a mutually agreeable outcome but clarified that “there are also a large number of questions regarding the further normalization of our bilateral relations, and a settlement on Ukraine.”
