President Donald Trump said he had a “very productive” conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The call came before Trump is scheduled to meet with Ukrainian President Zelensky.
“I just had a good and very productive telephone call with President Putin of Russia prior to my meeting, at 1:00 P.M. today, with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine. The meeting will take place in the main dining room of Mar-a-Lago. Press is invited,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Sunday.
The President has attempted to negotiate an end to the war. However, Moscow and Kiev remain far apart on several significant issues. On Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Kremlin assessed that Zelensky was not ready to engage in serious negotiations.
“Russia appreciates efforts by President of the United States Donald Trump and his team to achieve a peace settlement,” he said in an interview with TASS published on Sunday. “We see that Vladimir Zelensky’s regime and his European curators are not ready to engage in constructive talks.”
Moscow was receptive to Trump’s initial proposal, which was released in November. Over the past month, with Ukrainian and European input, that deal has been significantly changed.
Last week, Zelensky released a 20-point peace proposal that gave Ukraine “Article 5-style” security guarantees. Moscow has said that Ukrainian neutrality is a core demand for ending the conflict.
