Russia on Monday confirmed that a phone call between the United States President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will take place on Tuesday.
"Yes, this is indeed the case. Such a conversation is being prepared for Tuesday," state-run news agency TASS quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying. Addressing reporters on Sunday, Trump stated that he was planning a conversation with the Russian President on Tuesday. He emphasised paying special attention to territorial and infrastructure issues within the framework of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Trump said he would speak with Putin about the war in Ukraine and added that there had already been discussions about "dividing up certain assets". The US President further expressed hope that Moscow would agree to a ceasefire proposal. "We want to see if we can bring that war to an end. Maybe we can, maybe we can't, but I think we have a very good chance I'll be speaking to President Putin on Tuesday. A lot of work's been done over the weekend," the US President told reporters on Sunday.
The last telephone conversation between both Presidents took place on February 12. During the hour-and-a-half conversation, the leaders of the two countries discussed the Ukrainian issue as well as the accumulated problems in relations between the two countries. The Russian and US presidents then agreed to continue contacts, including the organisation of face-to-face meetings.
As part of these agreements, Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff visited Putin in Moscow last week. Witkoff, the US special envoy to the Middle East who has been involved in the peace talks, said that he had a positive meeting with Putin that lasted about three to four hours. He has declined to divulge any specifics of their conversation, but said that the two sides had "narrowed the differences between them" for a "solution-based discussion".
On March 13, following talks with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko, Putin said that Moscow agrees with proposals to end hostilities in Ukraine, but they must lead to long-term peace and eliminate the root causes of the crisis.
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