Washington - Saba:
US President Donald Trump has SAID he wants a settlement in Ukraine, but he cannot guarantee it.
Trump said in press statements: "The situation in Ukraine is up to (former US President Joe) Biden. I'm just trying to find a solution."
He added: "We'll see. I don't know. I can't tell you if it will happen or not. I hope it will."
Last Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump held a new phone call, which lasted about an hour and was described as "uniform, practical, and direct."
Regarding the Ukrainian crisis, Trump reiterated his desire to end military operations in Ukraine as soon as possible.
For his part, Putin stressed Russia's readiness to continue negotiating with Kyiv, but insisted that Moscow "will not abandon its goals of eliminating the root causes of the conflict."
The issue of halting US arms supplies to Ukraine was not addressed during the call. The date for the third round of negotiations in Istanbul was not discussed, and it was confirmed that the negotiations would remain bilateral between Moscow and Kyiv only, according to Yuri Ushakov, aide to the Russian president.
In a related development, President Trump and Vladimir Zelensky held a phone call on Friday morning. A source familiar with the matter described the talks between them as "good."
| more of (International) |