Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will speak on the phone this Tuesday to address the details of a possible ceasefire and a peace plan to end the war in Ukraine. This was indicated by the American president early Sunday morning upon returning to Washington from Florida, where he spends weekends.
Speaking to accompanying journalists aboard Air Force One, Trump confirmed the date for a conversation he had already mentioned the previous week, causing anxiety among Ukrainians and European partners, as it seems that the Americans are fully embracing the Kremlin's view of what is happening on the battlefield. This would explain why on Friday he repeatedly stated that thousands of Ukrainian soldiers were surrounded by Russian troops in an unspecified location, although everything points to the Kurks area, and how he pleaded with Putin not to kill them.
In his brief Sunday statement, Trump reiterated his optimism about the possibility of Russia accepting a proposal to halt the fighting in Ukraine for 30 days, something Kiev has already agreed to. Putin has set unacceptable conditions, such as the immediate surrender of Ukrainian troops fighting in the mentioned area. Additionally, Ukraine would not be able to receive weapons or supplies during that time. "We want to see if we can end that war. Maybe we can. Maybe not, but I think we have a very good chance," the president concluded.
His interpretation is that there have been advances in negotiations over the weekend by technical teams, pointing out two aspects that, according to him, Ukraine has already accepted: the loss of certain territories and the future of power plants, specifically the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, occupied by the Russians since 2022. "I think we will talk about territory, it's a lot and it's very different from what it was before the war, as you know," Trump declared to the journalist pool.
In an interview aired this Sunday on CNN, Steve Witkoff, the U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East who is also responsible for these negotiations, described the meeting he had with Putin last week, lasting between three and four hours, as very positive. It was the second meeting in recent weeks, and although he did not provide specific details, he mentioned that their differences had been "narrowed down."