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Topics: Donald Trump, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin
Gerrard Kaonga
Topics: Donald Trump, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin
Donald Trump may have made progress with Russian President Vladimir Putin as the pair are able to agree to conditions that allow for a ceasefire in Ukraine.
The White House have released a statement confirming they have made progress with Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding bringing the conflict to an end.
US President Donald Trump reportedly had a phone call conversation that saw Putin outline a long list of conditions that would need to be met before the end of the war.
The full statement from the White House considers this a step in the right direction.
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The statement reads: “Today, President Trump and President Putin spoke about the need for peace and a ceasefire in the Ukraine war. Both leaders agreed this conflict needs to end with a lasting peace.
“They also stressed the need for improved bilateral relations between the United States and Russia. The blood and treasure that both Ukraine and Russia have been spending in this war would be better spent on the needs of their people.
“This conflict should never have started and should have been ended long ago with sincere and good faith peace efforts. The leaders agreed that the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire, as well as technical negotiations on implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace. These negotiations will begin immediately in the Middle East."
The statement also noted the pair leaders spoke about the role the Middle East would have in preventing future conflicts and aggression from nations.
It continued: “The leaders spoke broadly about the Middle East as a region of potential cooperation to prevent future conflicts. They further discussed the need to stop proliferation of strategic weapons and will engage with others to ensure the broadest possible application. The two leaders shared the view that Iran should never be in a position to destroy Israel.
“The two leaders agreed that a future with an improved bilateral relationship between the United States and Russia has huge upside. This includes enormous economic deals and geopolitical stability when peace has been achieved."
Putin did agree to a 30-day ceasefire on energy infrastructure as Ukraine has revealed they have suffered attacks from Russia over the past few weeks.
Russia’s readout of the conversation alludes to the conditions the nation has requested with the country.
It stated that Russia demanded there be a stop to mobilization of Ukrainians and rearming of its armed forces, as well as a broader request to ‘eliminate the root causes of the crisis.’
It also highlighted Russia’s ‘key condition’ to ‘completely cease’ foreign military aid and intelligence sharing for Ukraine to prevent further escalation.
Further negotiations are expected.to take place.