- Putin says discussions on the right track.
- Ready to work with Ukraine on peace: the Russian president.
- Russia says that the idea of cease-fire must be worked.
Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin, after an appeal with US President Donald Trump on Monday, said efforts to end the war in Ukraine were on the right track and that Moscow was ready to work with Ukraine on a memorandum on the future peace agreement.
Putin thanked Trump for supporting the resumption of direct talks between Moscow and kyiv, and said Trump noted Russia’s support for peace, although the key question was how to evolve towards peace.
“We have agreed with the President of the United States that Russia will offer and is ready to work with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum on a possible future peace agreement, defining a certain number of positions, such as, for example, the principles of the colony, the moment of a possible peace agreement,” Putin told journalists near the seaside resort of the Black Sea.
If appropriate agreements are concluded, there could be a ceasefire, said Putin, adding that direct talks between Russia and Ukraine “give reasons to believe that we are generally on the right track”.
“I would like to note that, on the whole, the position of Russia is clear. The main thing for us is to eliminate the deep causes of this crisis,” said Putin. “We just need to determine the most effective means to evolve towards peace.”
After the telephone call of European leaders with Trump on Sunday, French president Emmanuel Macron said on X: “President Tomorrow Putin must show that he wants peace by accepting the unconditional 30-day ceasefire proposed by President Trump and supported by Ukraine and Europe.”
Putin is wary of a ceasefire and says that the fighting cannot be interrupted as long as the conditions are not met, including a western weapons for kyiv.
European leaders say Putin is not serious about peace. They fear that Trump will abandon support for kyiv, forcing him to accept a punitive peace agreement which would leave Ukraine at the bed of a fifth of his territory and lacking a strong security guarantee against a possible future attack.
Before Trump was returned to power this year, Washington joined the leaders of Western Europe and Ukraine to describe the invasion of Russia as a seizure of imperial style lands.
Trump’s administration has moved American policy to accept part of Russia’s account on the conflict, which, according to Moscow, was launched due to a threat of security for Ukraine to the West.
