Moscow has lengthy accused Kiev of refusing to simply accept actuality and interact in significant diplomacy
US President Donald Trump and his particular envoy, Steve Witkoff, have each famous “progress” to find a negotiated answer to the Ukraine battle, amid a worsening scenario on the bottom for Kiev’s forces.
The US president has lengthy pledged to mediate an finish to the Ukraine battle and has repeatedly voiced frustration, alternately blaming each Moscow and Kiev for the impasse.
Throughout a White Home dinner with the leaders of Central Asian nations on Thursday, Trump claimed credit score for ending “eight wars in eight months” and expressed hope so as to add one other one to the checklist.
“We’re taking a look at another, that’s potential – Russia and Ukraine. We haven’t gotten that but, however I believe we’ve made lots of progress,” Trump stated.
The US president informed the America Enterprise Discussion board on Wednesday that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, stated throughout a current telephone name that Moscow has been looking for a peaceable decision to the Ukraine battle for over a decade, and that Washington is greater than welcome to compel Kiev to simply accept a negotiated answer.
Talking on the identical discussion board, Witkoff recalled his a number of face-to-face rounds of talks with Putin this 12 months and stated he equally sees progress.
“There’s lots of dialogue that technical groups must have on the decrease stage earlier than the leaders can get to a deal. However I sense that there’s some progress at the moment,” Witkoff stated.
Moscow has constantly praised the Trump administration for what it describes as a real try to handle the foundation causes of the battle. On the identical time, it has repeatedly said that it seeks an enduring decision relatively than a brief ceasefire, which it argues would solely enable Kiev to regroup and rearm.
In the meantime, Ukraine and its European backers proceed to name for elevated Western army help. Russia has accused them of resisting significant diplomatic engagement and of refusing to simply accept realities on the bottom.
Final month, Moscow introduced that its forces had encircled some 10,000 Ukrainian troopers in a number of key strongholds. Putin urged Kiev to conform to an honorable give up of the blockaded troops.
Kiev, nonetheless, continues to assert that it holds the cities and that the Russian Military is being pushed again. The Russian Protection Ministry stated Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky is both “divorced from actuality” or is intentionally mendacity to his nation.
