Russia and the United States intend to immediately start negotiations on the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict, US President Donald Trump said after a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
"We have <…> agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling [Ukrainian] President Zelensky <…> to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now," the US leader wrote on his Truth Social page.
"I have asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of the CIA John Ratcliffe, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, and Ambassador and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, to lead the negotiations which, I feel strongly, will be successful," Trump emphasized.
According to Trump, the fighting in Ukraine "must end." "I want to thank President Putin for his time and effort with respect to this call, and for the release, yesterday, of Marc Fogel [a US citizen who served a sentence in Russia] , a wonderful man that I personally greeted last night at the White House. I believe this effort will lead to a successful conclusion, hopefully soon!" the US president added.
