President Donald Trump said the Russia-Ukraine peace deal is continuing on the right track after his Wednesday phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The pair talked over the phone in a follow-up to Trump’s conversation the previous day with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Just completed a very good telephone call with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine. It lasted approximately one hour,” Trump said via a Truth Social post on Wednesday afternoon. “Much of the discussion was based on the call made yesterday with President Putin in order to align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and needs.”
Trump said Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz would soon clarify the finer points of the conversation in a statement, but trilateral negotiations remain “very much on track.”
Rubio and other U.S. diplomats met with Ukrainian counterparts in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah last week to hammer out the preliminary agreement, which calls for a 30-day initial ceasefire as further negotiations on land reclamation and resource allocation are conducted.
The Kremlin asserted that such an arrangement would give Ukraine time to regroup and bolster its defenses and a chance to stall the consistent territory gains being made by the Russian military if hostilities resume.
Zelensky has not commented on his Wednesday conversation with Trump but has been highly critical of Russia’s position in the negotiations and Putin’s refusal to immediately agree to the U.S.-Ukraine proposal.
The Ukrainian president said Tuesday that “Putin effectively rejected the proposal for a full ceasefire," which established plans for preliminary negotiations to be staged immediately in the Middle East.
Despite ostensibly seeking to wind down the conflict and agreeing to an immediate ceasefire on strikes against energy infrastructure, the Russian military bombarded Ukraine with dozens of drone strikes Tuesday evening.
Zelensky said drones struck hospitals and civilian buildings in cities such as Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, and many others.
“It is these types of nighttime attacks by Russia that destroy our energy sector, our infrastructure, and the normal life of Ukrainians. And the fact that this night is no exception shows that the pressure on Russia must continue for the sake of peace," he said.
TRUMP AND PUTIN AGREE TO PRELIMINARY CEASEFIRE NEGOTIATIONS IN MIDDLE EAST
“It would be right for the world to respond by rejecting any attempts by Putin to prolong the war,” Zelensky said. “Sanctions against Russia. Assistance to Ukraine. Strengthening allies in the free world and working toward security guarantees.”
Ukraine asserted that “only a real cessation of strikes on civilian infrastructure by Russia” can be seen as a genuine token of interest in establishing lasting peace.