White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt has stated that US is “hopefully moving in the right direction” in its negotiation for Ukraine peace.
Leavitt confirmed that US Envoy, Steve Witkoff will again travel to Russia this week to continue talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
She told reporters that Trump and Witkoff “wanted everybody to know that the negotiations continue.”
US President, Donald Trump and US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio have recently indicated the US could abandon its pledge to broker an end to the fighting if swift progress is not made.
The US President also said on Sunday that a deal could be reached “this week.”
Leavitt reiterated that Trump has “grown frustrated with both sides of this war, and he’s made that very known.”
Meanwhile, Russian President, Vladimir Putin has indicated that he is open to the prospect of direct talks with Kyiv, but his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, says that will happen only after a ceasefire.
Putin told Russian state TV on Monday that he had a “positive attitude towards any peace initiatives” and he hoped Kyiv would “feel the same way.”
However, his spokesman stressed on Tuesday that there are currently no concrete plans for talks between Russia and Ukraine.
Zelenskyy countered this later at a briefing on Tuesday, a day before key talks in London seeking a potential settlement in the Russia-Ukraine war. “After the ceasefire, we are ready to sit down in any format,” he said.
Moscow and Kyiv have held no bilateral talks since the immediate aftermath of Russia’s February 2022 invasion of its neighbour. However, the United States has been raising the pressure on them to agree to a ceasefire.
Putin’s comments, which a spokesman said on Monday meant that he was open to direct talks, followed the expiration of a Russian-declared, 30-hour Easter truce, which each side accused the other of violating.
Zelenskyy did not respond directly to Putin’s comments, but he signalled in a nightly video address that Ukraine was “ready for any conversation” about a ceasefire that would stop attacks on civilians.
On Sunday, Zelenskyy had proposed a follow-up to the Easter truce that would “cease any strikes using long-range drones and missiles on civilian infrastructure for a period of at least 30 days.”
Putin said on Monday that Russia would “analyse everything and take the corresponding decisions” but questioned how it would work as he accused Ukraine of using civilian buildings such as restaurants and universities for military purposes.
Zelenskyy pressed Putin further, saying Ukraine stood by its offer – “at the very least, not to strike civilian infrastructure” – and that he expected a “clear answer” from Moscow.
No Bilateral Talks Currently Planned
However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov appeared to be seeking to backpedal on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, as he clarified that no bilateral talks are currently planned.
He told reporters that while Russia is ready to consider Zelenskyy’s proposal, the issue is complex.
“The President explained the complexity of this topic. … If we talk about civilian infrastructure facilities, we need to clearly differentiate in what situations these facilities can be a military target and in what situations they cannot.”
Dmitry Peskov
Peskov added that if Ukraine wanted to talk, then it should take steps to “legally clear the obstacles to such contacts”, an apparent reference to 2022 Zelenskyy decree barring negotiations with Putin, which he issued after Russia declared the annexation of four Ukrainian regions that its forces partly control.
Ukraine and its European allies have told Washington it should not be fooled into believing Russian claims that it is ready to discuss a ceasefire, insisting that Moscow is using delaying tactics.
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