Trump calls US discussions with Russia on ending Ukraine war ‘productive’

Russia is ‘cautiously optimistic’ on a Ukraine ceasefire after meeting US envoy Steve Witkoff.

Donald Trump says the US had ‘very good and productive’ talks with Vladimir Putin. Picture: AFP

The US and Russia had productive discussions about a settlement to the war in Ukraine, President Trump said, as the Kremlin said there were reasons to be “cautiously optimistic” about resolving the conflict.

“We had very good and productive discussions with President Vladimir Putin of Russia yesterday, and there is a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end,” Trump wrote in a social-media post on Friday. Putin on Thursday said that he didn’t support an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine but was open to discussing how to end the conflict.

Trump also said he appealed to Putin to spare the lives of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers who he said were surrounded by Russian troops, without elaborating.

Russian forces have advanced rapidly in Russia’s Kursk region in recent days, placing supply lines to Ukrainian forces there under fire and leading troops to withdraw from several villages and the town of Sudzha, at times on foot. Ukrainian soldiers in the area and analysts who examine online videos and photos of troop movements haven’t noted a complete encirclement of that magnitude there or elsewhere on the front line.

The Kremlin said Putin received Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, in a late-night meeting on Thursday.

“Through Witkoff, Putin transmitted information and additional signals to President Trump,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday, adding that much remains to be done. “Nevertheless, the president expressed solidarity with Trump’s position.”

US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff speaks to reporters outside the West Wing of the White House earlier this month. Picture: Mandel Ngan / AFP

The Kremlin’s response to the cease-fire proposal so far—rejecting an immediate truce while expressing willingness to discuss it—reflects a dilemma facing Putin: whether to accept a truce at a time when Russian forces are gaining ground or to reject it and risk undermining a delicate thaw in relations with Washington.

Peskov said that an exact time for a conversation between the two leaders hadn’t been set and that it would be determined after Witkoff relays the information he received in Moscow to Trump. “There is an understanding on both sides that such a conversation is necessary,” Peskov said.

Trump said Thursday that he planned to speak with Putin soon and was pressing for a speedy end to the conflict.

The cease-fire offer, negotiated by the US and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia this week, put pressure on the Russian leader to signal a willingness to work toward peace.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called the Russian president’s response ‘highly predictable. Picture: AFP

Putin on Thursday said that any pause in fighting would be in Ukraine’s interest because Russia was gaining on the battlefield and that a host of issues would need to be resolved before a cease-fire could be reached.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday called Putin’s response “highly predictable” and “manipulative words” aimed at dragging out the process by setting unworkable preconditions.

Russia has recently made rapid gains toward expelling Kyiv’s forces from its Kursk region, where the Ukrainian army had been controlling Russian territory since last year. With its army advancing on the battlefield and retaking territory Ukraine had hoped to use as a bargaining chip, Russia has little incentive to stop the fighting.

“AT THIS VERY MOMENT, THOUSANDS OF UKRAINIAN TROOPS ARE COMPLETELY SURROUNDED BY THE RUSSIAN MILITARY, AND IN A VERY BAD AND VULNERABLE POSITION,” Trump wrote in his post on Truth Social on Friday. “I have strongly requested to President Putin that their lives be spared. This would be a horrible massacre, one not seen since World War II. God bless them all!!!”

Russia’s wish for talks between Trump and Putin also underscores Moscow’s desire to sideline Ukraine as well as European leaders and deal directly with Washington, and potentially achieve concessions from a more receptive American leader.The two presidents spoke over the phone last month, followed by meetings of top US and Russian officials. Trump has since courted Russia and pressured Ukraine to force a deal.Russia has previously dismissed temporary cease-fires, maintaining that a durable agreement to end hostilities would require extended negotiations. Moscow has demanded that it retain the Ukrainian territory it controls, that Kyiv be prevented from joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and that policies undermining Russian influence in Ukraine be reversed.

The Wall Street Journal