On Sunday evening President Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he plans to speak on the telephone with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. This call will focus on dividing up assets between Russia and Ukraine. This second conversation was also confirmed by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
“A lot of work’s been done over the weekend. We want to see if we can bring that war to an end,” Trump said Sunday evening. “Maybe we can. Maybe we can’t, but I think we have a very good chance.”
The call will focus on a number of key disputes Russian and Ukraine have, such as who gets what when the dust settles.
“We’ll be talking about land. We’ll be talking about power plants. That’s a big question,” Trump said. “But I think we have a lot of it already discussed, very much by both sides, Ukraine and Russia. We’re already talking about that, dividing up certain assets, and they’ve been working on that.”
The Russian side has been more coy in its response as to the possible content of the upcoming call, neither confirming nor denying Trump’s statement.
“We never do that, we never jump the gun. Preparations for the conversation are ongoing, but as we see it, discussions between two heads of state should not be preemptively disclosed,” Peskov said.
On Sunday President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff went on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” and discussed the negotiations he has been party to with Russia. On Thursday he traveled to Moscow and met with Putin to discuss a possible ceasefire agreement.
“I was there for quite some time, Margaret, and I agree with the Secretary’s assessment,” Witkoff said. “We made a lot of progress in that meeting. It was a meeting that was- it could have been as long as four hours, but it was certainly at least three. We talked about a lot of specifics, and I point to the large gap that existed between Ukraine and Russia prior to the inauguration, and where we are today. We have narrowed the issues between both of these parties, making a lot of progress, in my opinion, and I think that meeting underscores that.”
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