The US President Donald Trumpʼs inner circle is advising him not to speak to Putin until he commits to a complete ceasefire in Ukraine.
This is reported by NBC News, citing sources.
Administration officials say Trump may suddenly want to call Putin. So they warned him that it wasnʼt the best idea until Putin gave the White House his approval for a full ceasefire in the full-scale Russia-Ukraine war.
Over the weekend, March 30, Donald Trump reported that he plans to speak with Putin this week, but added that he is “very angry” with Putin for questioning the authority of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump believes that such statements “do not lead in the right direction”.
What preceded
In March, a round of talks between Ukrainian and US delegations took place. Ukraine agreed to an immediate temporary ceasefire, in exchange for which Washington decided to resume aid and intelligence sharing. Zelensky said that a 30-day ceasefire would apply to the entire front line if Russia agreed to it. It did not.
Later, Trump spoke with Putin. They discussed, in particular, the 30-day ceasefire proposed by the United States. Putin demanded that Ukraine stop the mobilization and rearmament of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for this period. After the conversation, the parties reported that Putin allegedly supported the idea of a mutual refusal by the Russian Federation and Ukraine from attacks on energy infrastructure for 30 days.
The next day, Trump spoke with Zelensky. The US president shared with the Ukrainian leader the details of his conversation with Putin. Zelensky said he was ready to support an end to strikes on energy and other civilian infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Russia continues its massive attacks on Ukraine and its civilian and energy infrastructure.
In early March, Trump said he could impose large-scale sanctions against Russia, including banking sanctions, and impose new tariffs until there is a ceasefire and a peace agreement with Ukraine.
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