Trump and Putin to hold call on ceasefire deal soon, US envoy says

US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will speak in coming days, as talks continue over a possible ceasefire in the three-year war in Ukraine.
US envoy Steve Witkoff, who met with Putin on Thursday in Moscow, told CNN that he expected that āthere will be a call with both presidents this weekā.
āWeāre also continuing to engage and have conversation with the Ukrainians,ā he added. āWeāre advising them on everything weāre thinking about.ā
Last week, the US and Ukraine agreed to propose a 30-day ceasefire to Russia. While Putin said that he supported a ceasefire, he also set out a list of tough conditions for achieving peace.
Witkoff said in the interview on Sunday: āI think the two presidents are going to have a really good and positive discussion this week.ā
He also said that teams of US negotiators would meet counterparts from both Ukraine and Russia during the coming week.
Witkoff added that he believed a deal would be reached āin [the] coming weeksā.
āI am really hopeful we are going to see some progress here,ā he said.
During his election campaign, Trump repeatedly promised to end the war, which began with Russiaās full-scale invasion of its neighbour in 2022, on āday oneā of a new administration.
Less than a month after he was inaugurated, Trump had call with Putin that reportedly spanned 90 minutes about immediately starting negotiations on ending the war.
Witkoff declined to answer a question on how Russian-occupied land in Ukraine could be addressed in a potential deal. Russia currently controls around a fifth of Ukraine.
The envoy said Trump was actively participating in the diplomatic back-and-forth.
As an example, Witkoff said that āwithin five to 10 minutesā of his meeting with Putin concluding on Thursday, he had returned to the US embassy to brief Trump, as well as Vice-President JD Vance, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz.
āSo the president is getting updates in real time on everything thatās happening and heās involved in every important decision here,ā he said.