Presidents Trump And Putin Are Expected To Speak This Week As US Pushes Russia-Ukraine Armistice

JAKARTA - United States President Donald Trump is expected to speak with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin this week on how to end the three-year war in Ukraine, US envoy Steve Witkoff told CNN on Sunday, after a "positive" meeting with Kremin's leader last week in Moscow.

"I hope there will be a phone call with the two presidents this week, and we are also continuing to engage and talk with Ukraine," said Witkoff, who met with President Putin on Thursday evening, adding he thought talks between Trump and Putin would be "very good and positive," quoted by Reuters on March 17.

President Trump is seeking President Putin's support for a 30-day ceasefire proposal Ukraine received last week, as both sides continue to attack each other massively over the weekend and Russia is getting closer to expelling Ukrainian troops from the Kursk territory they have controlled for months in western Russia.

In a post on social media last Friday President Trump said there was a "very great chance this terrible and bloody war will eventually end." He also said he had "deeply requested" that President Putin not kill thousands of Russian-driven Ukrainian soldiers out of Kursk.

Meanwhile, President Putin said he would respect Trump's request to save the lives of Ukrainian troops if they give up.

The Kremlin also said on Friday President Putin had sent a message to President Trump about his ceasefire plan through Witkoff, expressing a "rudenceal optimism" that an agreement could be reached to end the conflict.

In a separate appearance at Sunday's event, Witkoff, Foreign Minister Marco Rubio and Trump National Security Adviser Mike Waltz stressed, there are still challenges to be resolved before Russia agrees to a ceasefire, let alone a final peaceful resolution to the war.

When asked on ABC whether the US would accept a peace agreement that would allow Russia to defend the eastern Ukrainian territory it had captured, Waltz replied, "Are we going to expel every Russian from every inch of Ukrainian soil?"

He added that negotiations should be based on "truth."

Foreign Minister Rubio told CBS the final peace deal would "involving a lot of hard work, concessions from Russia and Ukraine," and it would be difficult to start the negotiations "as long as they attack each other."

President Trump has warned that unless a ceasefire is reached, the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv has the potential to turn into a Third World War. His administration took steps last week to push for further cooperation in the ceasefire.

On Saturday, President Trump said the role of General Keith Kellogg had been narrowed down from a special envoy to Ukraine and Russia to just Ukraine, after Russian officials tried to exclude him from peace negotiations.