Russian President Vladimir Putin makes an address to Russian armed forces personnel and citizens from the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, in November 2024. Putin is expected to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump this week to discuss terms of a cease-fire in the ingoing war in Ukraine. EPA-EFE/Vyacheslav Prokofyev /Sputnik/Kremlin Pool
March 16 (UPI) — President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are expected to meet this week to discuss the terms of a cease-fire in the Russia-Ukraine war, which is now in its third year, a White House envoy said Sunday.
White House envoy Steve Witkoff also said that he met with Putin for four hours to discuss terms of the deal, and called it “positive” and “solutions-based.”
“The two sides are a lot closer today than they were a few weeks ago. We narrowed the differences,” Witkoff said in an interview on Sunday with CNN’s Jake Tapper.
Ukraine agreed to a 30-day ceasefire proposal from the Trump administration last week during a meeting in Saudi Arabia. The United States then lifted a pause on U.S. intelligence sharing and military assistance to Ukraine after Kiev backed the plan.
“The delegations also discussed the importance of humanitarian relief efforts as part of the peace process, particularly during the above mentioned ceasefire, including the exchange of prisoners of war, the release of civilian detainees, and the return of forcibly transferred Ukrainian children,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement after the meeting.
In a press conference days later, however, Putin said that although the “idea is good and we support it,” he wanted to negotiate with the United States because “there are issues we need to discuss,” Axios reported.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday discussed U.S. military action against Iran-backed Houthis, in addition to the next moves in negotiations for the Ukraine cease-fire, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement.
“Secretary Rubio and Foreign Minister Lavrov also discussed next steps to follow up on recent meetings in Saudi Arabia and agreed to continue working toward restoring communication between the United States and Russia.”
Although the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs acknowledged the conversation, officials said that Lavro and Rubio “agreed to remain in contact” but did not mention of the cease-fire.