Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accepted the plan however Russia has but to decide to the truce.
US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are anticipated to talk this week, particular envoy Steve Witkoff mentioned, as Russia has but to comply with a US-brokered ceasefire proposal with Ukraine.
“The 2 presidents are going to have a extremely good and constructive dialogue this week,” Witkoff mentioned in an interview with CNN on Sunday.
Earlier, Moscow mentioned US Secretary of State Marco Rubio referred to as his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. The pair mentioned “concrete points of the implementation of understandings” at a US-Russia summit in Saudi Arabia final month.
The February Riyadh gathering was the primary high-level assembly between the US and Russia since Moscow launched its invasion in February 2022.
“Sergey Lavrov and Marco Rubio agreed to stay in touch,” the Russian Ministry of Overseas Affairs mentioned, with no point out of the US-suggested ceasefire.
State Division spokeswoman Tammy Bruce mentioned Saturday that the pair had “mentioned the subsequent steps” on Ukraine. She additionally mentioned Rubio and Lavrov “agreed to proceed working in the direction of restoring communication between the US and Russia”.
The exchanges come as Washington this week pushed ahead a 30-day rapid ceasefire proposal following talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Whereas Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accepted the plan, Putin has but to decide to the ceasefire. Regardless of saying he agrees in precept to it, he famous there are “severe questions” for Russia to be addressed.
Zelenskyy accused the Kremlin of not wanting to finish the warfare and warned that Moscow needed to first “enhance their scenario on the battlefield” earlier than agreeing to any ceasefire.
Zelenskyy says Putin ‘mendacity’
In his response to the ceasefire earlier this week, Putin mentioned the initiative would profit primarily Ukraine and never Russian forces, who he mentioned are “advancing” in lots of areas.
The proposal got here as Russia, which occupies swaths of southern and japanese Ukraine, has had momentum in some areas of the entrance.
It has eliminated Ukrainian forces from components of its Kursk area, the place Kyiv hopes to carry onto Russian territory as a possible leverage in future negotiations.
Putin mentioned he needed to debate Moscow’s issues with Trump in a cellphone name.
Zelenskyy mentioned that by not agreeing to the ceasefire, Putin was additionally going in opposition to Trump – who has made overtures in the direction of Russia – and accused Moscow of looking for methods to not finish the warfare. He accused Putin of “mendacity about how a ceasefire is supposedly too sophisticated”.
Ukraine mentioned Sunday that one particular person was killed by a Russian drone assault on town of Izyum, within the Kharkiv area, which fell to Russia initially of its Ukraine invasion earlier than being retaken by Kyiv’s forces.
