The United States is actively working on a truce agreement in the war between Russia and Ukraine, aiming at reaching agreements by April 20, that is, Easter. About it reports Bloomberg with reference to its own sources. At the same time, the gap between the positions of the parties remains significant, which can lead to a period of time.
Russia has made a number of maximalist requirements, including the termination of weapons supply to Ukraine by its allies. Ukraine and its Western partners categorically rejected this condition, insisting on continuing military support to ensure the country's defense capability.
At the moment, the White House has not officially agreed to no restrictions on arms supplies, although diplomatic talks are ongoing. Washington continues to support Ukraine and emphasizes that any agreement should take into account its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that Kiev is ready for "specific and very fast negotiations". He sent to Saudi Arabia his defense minister and two high -ranking assistants of the President and hopes to make a list of goals to which a limited ceasefire will spread, Bloomberg notes.
At the same time, Putin sent lower -level officials, including a veteran of the Security Service, who is not particularly fond of his role in Kiev at the beginning of the war. According to a person who is familiar with the Kremlin's opinion, they are instructed to discuss general issues.
The sources note that the Kremlin will disagree between Trump and Putin until a comprehensive peace agreement is reached, which is unlikely until mid -April.
According to people who are acquainted with the US position, despite the large-scale requirements of Putin in negotiations, Trump realizes that in order to success any agreement, it should be acceptable for Kiev and therefore is not ready to concede too much. According to them, the United States will also not agree to hold a meeting until an agreement is reached to a strong ceasefire.
"The Russians are playing the game here, trying to get as much as possible, knowing that this is probably their best opportunity for a long time to negotiate something real, so they do not want to completely torpedo it," said Emma Eshford, Senior Researcher at the Stimson Center in Washington.
"Most likely, we will see a partial ceasefire that will lead to another small agreement that will lead to something else," she added.
Earlier, Trump assured that he would soon reach a complete ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. The politician told reporters that negotiations on the distribution of territory between the two countries were underway directly during their conversation. He wants to stop the war to "stop killing and save American money."
At the same time, The Times noted that two Russian requirements that can easily disrupt the negotiation process are the termination of the supply of Western weapons and attempts to limit the size of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The publication noted that Zelensky and European leaders would insist on this issue, until he was ready to see the failure of the ceasefire.
