I have heard from the key players in today’s ceasefire proposal that the interaction between the US and Russia continues as pressure increases to Vladimir Putin agrees to the deal.
But what did they say? See the summary below.
Vladimir Putin
When I heard from the Russian president this afternoon, he said the situation is beginning to move following consultations with Steve Witkov, the envoy of Donald Trump in Moscow, adding, “Let’s see what happens.”
Putin continued his flattering policy against Trump, saying, “I know that the new administration led by President Trump is doing everything to restore what was essentially destroyed by the previous US administration.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian president said he saw a “good opportunity” to end the conflict with Russia, and warned him that “we don’t want to play games in war.”
He repeated his call to put pressure on Putin to put pressure on Russia to end the war, adding that “only decisive action can end this war.”
“Putin cannot leave this war.
“So he’s doing everything he can for diplomacy, even before a ceasefire, by setting very difficult and unacceptable conditions from the start.”
Zelensky also said Putin would not end the war himself, adding that “the strength of America is enough to make it happen.”
Donald Trump
We also heard from Donald Trump, who said his team had “a very good and productive discussion with Russian President Vladimir Putin.”
However, he continued to refer to the “surrounded” Ukrainian forces – perhaps in the Kursk region of Russia, where the Kremlin forces oppose the Ukrainian forces.
Neither Trump nor Putin provide evidence of their proposal that many Ukrainian troops are under siege.
Nevertheless, Trump called on Putin to “save” the lives of Ukrainian forces – the Russian president said he would only do so if Ukraine ordered its forces to surrender.
Marco Rubio
From the G7 conference held in Canada this afternoon, the US Secretary of State said, “I think there’s a reason to be careful and optimistic.”
But he “continues to recognize that this is a difficult and complicated situation,” he said.
He said there was a “positive interaction” between White House envoy Steve Witkov and Putin, whom he met in Moscow yesterday.
Emmanuel Macron
The French president followed in the footsteps of Ukrainian allies and called on Russia to accept the proposal, saying, “Ukrainian Russian invasion must end.”
He also said there must be a halt to “delay the tactics” – Vladimir Putin was accused after saying that the deal had “nuances” and “many questions” while listing a set of conditions for a ceasefire.
