Washington - Saba:
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff expressed his hope that the upcoming conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, will be successful.
Witkoff said during an interview with ABC News that he believes the United States has succeeded "to some extent" in narrowing the gap between Russia and Ukraine, noting that he is following the US president's tactics because they are successful.
He explained that "the art here is to narrow the wide gaps between the two sides."
He added that he believes Washington's success lies in the fact that each side has, as he put it, defined its positions to some extent.
He stressed that he hopes the upcoming call between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents will remove the "obstacle" to resolving the conflict, saying: "His (Trump's) feelings are that he should communicate with the Russian president, and this will remove some of the obstacle and get us where we want to be, and I think it will be a very useful call."
Earlier, Trump announced that he was planning to hold a phone call with the Russian president. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later confirmed that the Russian presidency was making the necessary arrangements for the upcoming call.
It's worth noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously offered Ukraine to resume direct talks without preconditions in Istanbul on May 15.
The head of state did not rule out the possibility that the two sides might reach a ceasefire agreement during the relevant negotiations. Peskov said that Russia is determined to seriously explore ways to reach a long-term peaceful settlement. According to him, the goals of the proposed negotiations with Ukraine are to eliminate the root causes of the conflict and protect Russia's interests.
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