Donald Trump’s emissary, Steve Witkoff, is expected in Russia in the middle of the week, a few days before the ultimatum expired by the American president to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin so that he stops war in Ukraine.
Mr. Witkoff’s visit will take place, I think next week on Wednesday or Thursday
journalists told the American president on Sunday evening.
Donald Trump also said that two nuclear submarines he had ordered deployment following an online argument with former Russian president Dmitri Medvedev were now found in the region
without specifying which one. He also did not specify if they were submarines with simple nuclear propulsion or submarines equipped with nuclear warheads.
This procedure of force comes when Donald Trump gave last week 10 days, until next Friday, to Russia so that it ends the war in Ukraine, under penalty of new sanctions not specified.
The Russian president has already met Steve Witkoff several times in Moscow, but Donald Trump’s efforts to restore dialogue with the Kremlin did not bear fruit.
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 leaders’ summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, November 30, 2018.
Photo: Reuters / Marcos Brindicci
The Republican billionaire, who had started his second term by proclaiming himself to be able to stop the war in Ukraine in a few days, now expresses his frustration more and more openly with regard to Vladimir Putin.
To the journalists who asked him what will be Mr. Witkoff’s message to Moscow and if there was something that Russia could do to avoid sanctions, Trump replied: Yes, conclude an agreement so that people stop being killed.
Trump threatened to inflict Secondary customs duties
to countries that continue to trade with Russia, such as China and India.
Despite the pressure exerted by Washington, the Russian offensive against his pro-Western neighbor continues without respite. Vladimir Putin, who has always rejected calls to the ceasefire, said on Friday that he wanted peace, but that his requirements to end his invasion launched in February 2022 remained unchanged.
We need lasting and stable peace, based on solid foundations, which satisfies both Russia and Ukraine and guarantees the security of the two countries
the Russian president told journalists, before adding that The conditions remain of course the same
on the Russian side.
Moscow demands that Ukraine formally yield to four Ukrainian regions that the Russian army partially controls (Donetsk, Lougansk, Zaporijia, Kherson) as well as the Ukrainian Crimea peninsula annexed in 2014.
A resident hangs his bike in front of a residential building destroyed by a Russian air strike in Totretsk, in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Friday, June 28, 2024.
Photo : Associated Press / Evgeniy Maloletka
In addition to these annexations, the Kremlin wants kyiv to renounce Western arms deliveries and to any membership of theTake.
Unacceptable conditions for kyiv, who wants the withdrawal of Russian troops and Western security guarantees, including the pursuit of arms deliveries and the deployment of a European contingent. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared himself several times ready to meet in person Vladimir Putin to try to unlock the discussions, a proposal for the time being discarded by the Kremlin.
Ukraine launched a drone attack on Sunday which caused a fire in an oil depot in Sochi, a hostess city of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games by the Black Sea. kyiv has announced its intention to intensify its air strikes against Russia in response to the increase in deadly Russian attacks on its territory in recent weeks.
Zelensky also said on Sunday that the two parties were preparing a prisoner exchange which would allow 1,200 Ukrainian soldiers to go home, following talks with Russia in Istanbul in July.