Trump says he'll speak with Putin Tuesday as he pushes ceasefire plan
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President Trump speaks at the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., on Friday. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
President Trump said he plans to speak with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday as part of the U.S. leader's push to reach a 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
Why it matters: While Ukraine agreed to Trump's ceasefire proposal, Putin refused to accept it unconditionally.
- White House envoy Steve Witkoff met the Russian president for several hours on Thursday.
The latest: "I'll be speaking to President Putin on Tuesday," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to D.C. from Florida late Sunday.
- "A lot of work's been done over the weekend. ... We want to see if we can bring that war to an end. Maybe we can, maybe we can't, but I think we have a very good chance."
- When asked what sort of concessions he would be looking for, Trump replied "we will be talking about land, we will be talking about power plants" and he said they were already discussing "dividing up certain assets."
Driving the news: Witkoff on CNN earlier Sunday described his four-hour meeting with Putin as "positive" and the discussion was "solutions-based," as he said Trump will likely speak with Putin this week.
- He claimed Putin accepts "Trump's philosophy" of ending the war with Ukraine.
- "The two sides are a lot closer today than they were a few weeks ago. We narrowed the differences," Witkoff said in his interview with CNN's Jake Tapper.
Behind the scenes: Witkoff said Trump is personally involved in the diplomatic efforts with Russia and Ukraine.
- He said he briefed Trump from the U.S. embassy in Moscow right after the meeting with Putin.
- Witkoff said Trump held a meeting with his senior advisers on Saturday about the efforts to reach a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine and more discussions are expected to take place today in order to " narrow the differences even further."
- "We hope to see a ceasefire within weeks," Witkoff said.
What to watch: Witkoff said U.S. officials will hold separate talks this week with teams from Ukraine and Russia.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Saturday that he appointed a negotiating team led by his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, and including Ukraine's foreign and defense ministers.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke on Saturday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and "discussed next steps to follow up on recent meetings in Saudi Arabia and agreed to continue working towards restoring communication between the United States and Russia," the State Department said.
The intrigue: Trump announced on Saturday that he appointed General Keith Kellogg as Special Envoy to Ukraine. That's a narrowing of Kellogg's previous mandate as envoy for Ukraine and Russia.
- Trump said Kellogg "will deal directly with President Zelensky, and Ukrainian leadership. He knows them well, and they have a very good working relationship together."
- The reason behind the move seems to be Russian reluctance to deal with Kellogg.
Editor's note: This article and the headline have been updated with to reflect President Trump's comments.
