The United States and Russia are preparing to meet in the Middle East to conduct negotiations that will hopefully end the invasion of Ukraine.
President Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin for almost two hours on a Tuesday phone call that U.S. and Ukrainian leaders hoped would push the Kremlin to end its invasion.
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.”
A read-out issued by the Kremlin following the meeting noted that a 30-day ceasefire on attacks against energy infrastructure was proposed by Trump and agreed to by Putin.
The Russian document went into far greater detail about the topics addressed in the call, including the creation of negotiating groups, a mutual agreement to work towards safety for vessels in the Black Sea, and a proposal from Trump to organize friendly hockey matches between the U.S. and Russia to normalize relations after peace.
The Kremlin read-out also asserts that in response to Trump’s request for mercy on Ukrainian soldiers in the Kursk region of Russia — which is being quickly reclaimed by Russian forces — the Kremlin is prepared to spare all combatants in the event of surrender.
The scheduled talks in the Middle East are another half-step as Ukraine urges the U.S. to force Russia into agreement with the parameters drafted last week at a bilateral meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. That deal, struck between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and three counterparts from the Ukrainian government, proposed a preliminary 30-day ceasefire period on land, air, and sea.
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.
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.”
The Kremlin read-out stated that Putin told Trump that Ukrainian officials are untrustworthy and attempting to sabotage peace negotiations.
Zelensky is likely frustrated with the lack of a firm resolution, recently accusing the Russians of intentionally drawing out peace talks as a method of gaining as much territory as possible before a ceasefire.
“Tomorrow marks one week since the U.S. proposal for a ceasefire in the sky, at sea, and on the front lines has been on the table,” Zelensky said Monday on social media. “The implementation of this proposal could have begun long ago. Every day in wartime is a matter of human lives.”
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He continued, “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. For a week now, Putin has been unable to squeeze out ‘yes’ to the ceasefire proposal. He’s saying whatever he wants, but not what the whole world wants to hear.”
Ukraine will ultimately need to approve any negotiated peace deal concerning its conflict with Russia, but the massive amounts of casualties on both sides is stretching the country’s much smaller combat-capable population to its limits.
The longer negotiations continue, the less leverage Ukraine will have against Russian demands.
