'People are going to Russia right now as we speak: Donald Trump on Ukraine war ceasefire talks
Washington DC/IBNS: US President Donald Trump Wednesday said negotiators were travelling to Russia "right now" for talks on a possible ceasefire with Ukraine after Kyiv agreed to a 30-day truce.
"People are going to Russia right now as we speak. And hopefully we can get a ceasefire from Russia," he told reporters in the Oval Office during a meeting with Ireland's prime minister.
"And if we do, I think that would be 80 percent of the way to getting this horrible bloodbath finished."
Vice President JD Vance, who was also in the meeting, added that there were "conversations that are happening on the phone and in person with some of our representatives over the next couple of days."
Trump did not say when he would next speak to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin but added: "I hope he's going to have a ceasefire" and that there had been "positive messages" from Moscow.
"It's up to Russia now," said Trump.
Trump was coy about pressuring Moscow to agree to a truce, saying he could slap it with "devastating" sanctions but adding that "I hope that's not going to be necessary."
Ukraine agrees to a 30-day ceasefire with Russia:
Ukraine on Tuesday agreed to a US proposal for a 30-day general ceasefire with Russia, with the United States in turn promising to lift restrictions on military aid and intelligence sharing, a joint statement by the two sides said.
Following talks in Saudi Arabia, the two sides agreed to conclude "as soon as possible" a deal on Ukrainian minerals, the statement said.
"Ukraine expressed readiness to accept the US proposal to enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire, which can be extended by mutual agreement of the parties, and which is subject to acceptance and concurrent implementation by the Russian Federation," a joint statement said after the talks.
"The United States will communicate to Russia that Russian reciprocity is the key to achieving peace," it added.
"The United States will immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and resume security assistance to Ukraine."
The US-Ukraine talks took place three weeks after senior US officials held talks with Russian officials in Riyadh.
President Donald Trump had stopped aid to Ukraine after a disastrous meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy on February 28.
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