New York [US], March 17: US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are expected to speak this week, special envoy Steve Witkoff said, as Russia has yet to agree to a US-brokered ceasefire proposal with Ukraine.
"The two presidents are going to have a really good and positive discussion this week," Witkoff said in an interview with CNN on Sunday.
Earlier, Moscow said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. The pair discussed "concrete aspects of the implementation of understandings" at a US-Russia summit in Saudi Arabia last month.
The February Riyadh gathering was the first high-level meeting between the United States and Russia since Moscow launched its invasion in February 2022.
"Sergey Lavrov and Marco Rubio agreed to remain in contact," the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, with no mention of the US-suggested ceasefire.
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said on Saturday that the pair had "discussed the next steps" on Ukraine.
She also said Rubio and Lavrov "agreed to continue working towards restoring communication between the United States and Russia".
The exchanges come as Washington pushed forward a 30-day immediate ceasefire proposal following talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accepted the plan, Putin has yet to commit to the ceasefire. Despite saying he agrees in principle to it, he noted there are "serious questions" for Russia to be addressed.
Zelensky accused the Kremlin of not wanting to end the war and warned that Moscow wanted to first "improve their situation on the battlefield" before agreeing to any ceasefire.
Source: Qatar Tribune
