Russia said Friday that President Vladimir Putin had sent “additional” signals to the United States counterpart, Donald Trump, on a high fire proposed by Washington in Ukraine, and added that he was “cautiously optimistic” on the perspective of an agreement.
The American envoy Steve Witkoff met Putin on Thursday night to present the details of the American-Ukrainian joint plan, which foresees a 30-day break in hostilities between Moscow and kyiv after three years of struggle.
The Kremlin said Putin transmitted “additional” signals to Trump through Witkoff and that the two leaders could speak once Trump had been informed about these messages.
“When Witkoff brings all the information to President Trump, we will determine the time of a conversation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“It is understood on all sides that such conversation is needed.”
The United States National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said in a Fox News Interview that the United States had “a cautious optimism” after Witkoff’s visit.
When commenting on Waltz’s comments, Peskov said today: “There are reasons to be cautiously optimistic.
“There is still much to do, but the president has identified with the position of President Trump.”
Putin said Thursday that he supported the idea of a truce with Ukraine, but said he had “serious questions” about how it would be implemented that he wanted to discuss with Trump.
The Russian leader said he wanted an agreement to ensure “long -term peace”, referring to Moscow’s demand that Ukraine was prohibited from NATO.
On Thursday, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, condemned Putin’s ambivalent response to the proposal as “very manipulative”, while Germany described him as a “delaying tactic.”
Trump asks Putin lives from Ukrainian soldiers on the line
Trump begged his Russian counterpart to avoid the lives of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers in the front line, since he expressed the hope of the end of the Russian war in Ukraine.
“I have firmly requested President Putin to save his lives,” Trump wrote today on his social platform after what he described as a “very good and productive discussions” with Putin.
Saudi heir prince tells Putin to support ‘all initiatives’ to end the war
The de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, the crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman, told the Russian president that the kingdom supports “all the initiatives” to end the war in Ukraine, according to a statement today.
The heir prince reaffirmed the “commitment of Saudi Arabia to facilitate dialogue and support all the initiatives aimed at achieving a political resolution” in a phone call with Putin, said a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
‘Strong G7 Unity’ About Ukraine in Conversations: Canada host
Meanwhile, the group of seven foreign ministers published a unified statement that supports the calls led by the United States for a high fire between Ukraine and Russia, said the host of Canada today, despite the friction with Trump.
“Through our long conversations, we were able to find a strong G7 unit in a variety of issues that were discussed and that I would like to stand out in particular is the one linked to Ukraine,” Melanie Joly told journalists the last day of the conversations in Quebec.
“All the foreign ministers of the G7 agree with the US proposal. “Then, ultimately, the ball is now on the Russian court when it comes to Ukraine.”
The Club of Rich Democracies (Great Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States) has been shaken by Trump’s reach to Russia since he returned to office and his strong pressure on Ukraine, which Moscow invaded in 2022.
But diplomacy changed dramatically on Tuesday when Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who participated in Quebec conversations, met with Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia, with kyiv supporting a proposal for a high unconditional fire of 30 days.