The Kremlin confirmed on Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin will speak to U.S. President Donald Trump by phone on Tuesday.
“We want to see if this war can be ended,” Trump told Air Force One reporter on a flight back to the Washington area from Florida on Sunday night. “Maybe we can, maybe we can’t, but I think it’s very likely we can.”
When asked about the phone number of plans, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that it was planned on Tuesday.
Trump said on the presidential plane that his envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Putin, had active negotiations in Moscow.
Trump is trying to win backing Putin’s support for a 30-day ceasefire proposal accepted by Ukraine last week as Russia is getting closer and closer to the pop-up of Scottish troops from a few-month-old foothold in western Kurs Russia as both sides continue a massive air strike over the weekend.
Asked about what concessions are considered in the ceasefire negotiations, Trump said: “We will talk about land. We will talk about power plants… We are already talking about that, dividing certain assets.”
Trump did not elaborate, but is likely referring to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia facility in Ukraine, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of the risk of accidents in factories through their actions.
Asked about the remarks, the Kremlin said it was inappropriate to comment on the upcoming discussion between the two presidents.
Territory, security guarantee
In a separate show on the U.S. Sunday TV show, Witkov, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz stressed that there are still challenges before Russia agrees to a ceasefire, not to mention the ultimate peaceful solution to the war.
When asked by ABC whether the United States would accept a peace agreement that would allow Russia to retain occupied eastern Ukraine, Walz replied: “Are we going to expel every Russian from every inch of Ukrainian soil?” He added that the negotiations must be based on “reality.”
On Tuesday, nine-hour talks between U.S., Ukraine and Saudi Arabian government officials led to Ukraine agreeing to the U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire. Ukrainian Ambassador to Canada Yuliya Kovaliv said this is “thanks to Russia now.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has always stated that the sovereignty of his country is unnegotiable and that Russia must surrender to the territory it occupied. Since its invasion in 2022, Russia has occupied the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and now controls most of the four eastern Ukraine regions.
Russia will seek assurances of “Ironclad” that NATO countries exclude Keeff from any peace agreements outside of membership, and that Ukraine will remain neutral, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia said in a remark Monday.
Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said in an interview with Russian media Izvestia, who did not mention the ceasefire proposal, that any long-term peace treaty in Ukraine must meet Moscow’s requirements.
“We will require Ironclad’s security assurance to be part of this agreement,” Izvestia quoted Grushko as saying.
“Part of these guarantees should be Ukraine’s neutrality, and NATO countries refuse to accept the alliance.”
Ukraine says Russia launches more than 170 drones
Putin said his military invasion of Ukraine was because NATO’s spread and expansion threatened Russia’s security. He asked Ukraine to abandon NATO ambitions, Russia maintains control over all Ukrainian territory, and the size of Ukrainian troops was limited. He also hopes to relax Western sanctions and hopes to hold a presidential election in Ukraine, which Keefe said was premature birth during martial law.
The EU’s foreign policy director Kaja Kallas said on Monday that the conditions for Russia to agree to a ceasefire show that Moscow does not really want peace.
Trump’s exclusion by revealing that he spoke with Putin by phone and sent diplomats to Ukrainian officials was surprised by European allies by revealing that he spoke with Putin by phone and sent diplomats to meet with Russian counterparts.
A few days later, he and U.S. Vice Chairman JD Vance condemned Zelenskyy at an Oval Office meeting in Washington last month, ending with Ukrainian leaders leaving the White House early.
Ukrainian air defense forces shot down 90 of the 174 drones launched by Russia in a brand new battle on Monday, the Ukrainian air force said.
It said the loss of 70 drones refers to the Ukrainian army that used electronic warfare to redirect.
The military said on the Telegram Messenger app: “The Odesa, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad, Sumy, Chernihiv and Kyiv regions were affected by Russian attacks.”
Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper said in a telegram that a civilian was injured in the attack that damaged kindergartens, a private residence, a shop and a passenger car.
