00:35 / 14.03.2025

How did Trump assess Putin's statement on the ceasefire?

US President Donald Trump called Vladimir Putin's statement on a 30-day ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war "promising."

"Putin made a hopeful statement," Trump said at a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. However, the US president believed that the statement was "incomplete."

Trump confirmed that he was ready to discuss the ceasefire proposal with Putin. According to him, US President's special representative for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is currently conducting "serious talks in Russia" and is scheduled to meet with Putin soon.

"I hope Russia does the right thing," Trump added.

At a press conference with Rutte, the US President revealed what Washington's representatives had discussed with the Ukrainian delegation within the framework of the ceasefire agreement. In particular, they discussed the territories and control over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, as well as the issue of Ukraine's membership in NATO.

"We discussed the territories [with Ukraine] because if there is no point in the ceasefire, we don't want to waste time on it. So we say, 'Look, you can have this, but you can't have that.'" The issue of NATO and membership in it was discussed. Everyone knows the answer, it has been known for 40 years. Many details of the final agreement have already been discussed. Now we will see if Russia is ready or not. If it is not ready, it will be a very disappointing situation for the whole world," Trump said.

The US proposed a 30-day ceasefire during talks with the Ukrainian delegation in Saudi Arabia. The Ukrainian side agreed to this.

Vladimir Putin, commenting on the idea of a ceasefire, said that Russia agreed to the proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine, but only if it leads to a long-term peace. The president said that the peace proposal should take into account a number of nuances. In particular, he said, there is a risk that Kiev could use the 30-day ceasefire to acquire weapons or mobilize forces.