Spanish
Moscow.- The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, proposed this Monday, in a telephone conversation with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, to work with Ukraine on a roadmap for a ceasefire, the principles of settlement and the signing of a peace treaty.
"We have agreed with President Trump that Russia proposes, is willing, to work with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum on a possible and future peace treaty," Putin told the Russian press after a long conversation with his US counterpart.
Putin described the more than two-hour conversation with Trump as "very useful", "very frank", and "very constructive", who would have explained his position on a cessation of hostilities in Ukraine.
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"There are rarely such long conversations (....) neither of them wanted, so to speak, to hang up the phone," explained Yuri Ushakov, Kremlin advisor on international policy, at a telephone press conference.
This was the third telephone conversation between both presidents since the arrival to power of the American leader on January 20th.
Deadlines for a peaceful settlement
Putin, who is in the resort town of Sochi (Black Sea), added that the aforementioned memorandum will include "the different positions on the principles of settlement and the deadlines for the signing of a possible peace treaty".
"This will include a possible ceasefire for a determined period of time, in case the corresponding agreements are reached," he emphasized.
Regarding this, Ushakov assured that Putin and Trump did not discuss possible deadlines for declaring a truce, although he admitted that the American interlocutor "showed interest in the early achievement of one or another agreement."
Putin stressed that "the key lies in the Russian and Ukrainian sides showing the greatest desire to achieve peace, and finding the compromises that satisfy both sides".
While emphasizing that Russia supports a peaceful resolution to the conflict, he recalled that what is important for Russia "is to eliminate the original causes of the crisis".
Istanbul, just the first step
The Russian leader emphasized that the resumption of direct negotiations with Ukraine last Friday in Istanbul demonstrates that "we are on the right track".
"Contacts between the participants in the Istanbul negotiations have resumed and this allows us to assume that, in general, we are on the right track," he said.
In that sense, he thanked Trump for his support for his proposal to restart peace negotiations with Kyiv after a three-year pause, since the previous talks took place in the first year of the war, 2022.
Although, at the same time, he added that both sides and the mediators must choose "the most effective way to move towards peace".
No summit in sight
The disagreement was over the date of the next summit between the two heads of state.
"We will work on the issue, but for now, specifically, the leaders did not agree on its holding or the place of the possible meeting," Ushakov said.
The diplomat indicated that both leaders "discussed the possibility of organizing a personal meeting in the future, but for this it is necessary to create the necessary premises".
"Both presidents agreed that a meeting like this must be well prepared," he said, noting that the teams of both leaders will work on their preparations, particularly to "achieve agreements that are a tangible result of this very important meeting at the highest level between Russia and the US."
The conversation made it clear that "both presidents are interested in this meeting not being empty, but beneficial," according to the Kremlin advisor.
Putin and Trump held their previous summit in Helsinki on July 16, 2018, during the first term of the current U.S. president.
The last summit between the leaders of both powers took place on June 16, 2021 in Geneva between Putin and the American Joe Biden.
Both presidents also agreed to continue the process of normalizing their relations, whose potential Trump described as "impressive".
Ushakov highlighted that the head of the White House, although he mentioned that a bill on the matter is in the Senate, is against the adoption of economic sanctions against Russia.
