Trump and Putin to hold call on US plans for Ukraine ceasefire – Europe live


Putin-Trump call scheduled for afternoon, Kremlin confirms

We have just heard from the Kremlin on the exact timing of the Putin-Trump phone call, with officials saying it is scheduled for 1pm to 3pm GMT (2pm to 4pm CET).

“There is a large number of issues from the normalisation of our relations and the Ukrainian issue, all of which the two presidents will discuss,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, quoted by AFP.

Key events

What to expect from Trump-Putin call? – analysis

Pjotr Sauer

Russian affairs reporter

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will hold a high-stakes call on Tuesday afternoon to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, amid reports that Russia is demanding a halt to all western arms deliveries to Ukraine as a condition for a truce.

A demonstrator holds a banner depicting a playing card with portraits of Russian president Vladimir Putin and US president Donald Trump during a rally against Trump’s stance on the Russia-Ukraine war, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in front of the U.S. embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine earlier this month. Photograph: Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters

Bloomberg reported (£) that Putin was expected to demand a suspension of all weapons deliveries to Ukraine – including US and European aid – during a ceasefire proposed by Trump.

Europe is likely to be uneasy about agreeing to this condition, as the UK and European Union are ramping up efforts to deliver fresh military aid packages to Kyiv as soon as possible.

The Russian leader has also renewed calls for broader negotiations on a long-term settlement to the war. His demands are likely to include the demilitarisation of Ukraine, an end to western military aid and a commitment to keeping Kyiv out of Nato.

Before the talk, Trump said Russian and US negotiators had already talked about “dividing up certain assets”.

“We’re doing pretty well, I think, with Russia,” Trump said on Sunday, adding that he thought there was a very good chance of reaching a ceasefire.

Kyiv will be alarmed by Trump’s hints that the US may put pressure on Ukraine to cede significant territory.

“I think we’ll be talking about land, it’s a lot of land,” he said. “It’s a lot different than it was before the war, as you know. We’ll be talking about land,” Trump said when asked about Ukrainian concessions.

“We’ll be talking about power plants,” apparently referring to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest nuclear site in Europe.

Trump’s rhetoric on dividing territory has echoes of the 1945 Yalta conference, where Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Franklin Roosevelt divided Europe between the American-aligned west and the Soviet-controlled east.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was quick to dismiss such comparisons on Tuesday, stating that global restructuring and a “new Yalta” were not on the agenda.

The US outlet Semafor reported on Monday that the White House was considering officially recognising Crimea – annexed by Moscow in 2014 – as Russian territory as part of a potential peace deal.

Washington is also reportedly discussing the possibility of putting pressure on the UN to follow suit.



Source link

Related Articles

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Stay Connected

0FansLike
0FollowersFollow
0SubscribersSubscribe

Latest Articles