US President Donald Trump has praised talks held with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the US-proposed ceasefire deal in Ukraine as “good and productive”.
This comes after Putin and US envoy Steve Witkoff met in Moscow on Thursday evening, during which they exchanged information and shared the US’s “cautious optimism” over a peace process, the Kremlin confirmed.
Trump’s Truth Social post on Friday said the talks provided “a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, however, maintained that Putin’s response so far shows Russia wants to continue the war and does not want a ceasefire.
“Putin cannot exit this war because that would leave him with nothing,” Zelensky wrote in a post on X.
“That is why he is now doing everything he can to sabotage diplomacy by setting extremely difficult and unacceptable conditions right from the start even before a ceasefire.”
He said Putin would “drag” everyone into “endless discussions… wasting days, weeks, and months on meaningless talks while his guns continue to kill people”.
“Every condition Putin puts forward is just an attempt to block any diplomacy. This is how Russia works. And we warned about this.”
In his daily address the night before, Zelensky said Putin was preparing to “reject” a ceasefire, explaining that Putin “doesn’t say ‘no’ outright”.
Earlier this week, Ukraine accepted the US-proposed ceasefire deal, which Russia is yet to agree to.
Zelensky’s social media posts on Friday added that the “exchange of prisoners and an unconditional 30-day full interim ceasefire are the first quick steps that could significantly bring us closer to a just and lasting peace”.
But the White House believes the two sides have “never been this close to peace”.
Talking to reporters, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt maintained that the talks between Putin and Witkoff in Moscow on Thursday were “productive”.
She added that Trump has been “putting pressure on Putin and the Russians to do the right thing”.
Trump’s social media post also “strongly requested” that Putin should spare the lives of Ukrainian troops, who are surrounded by Russian forces in Kursk, adding it would be a “horrible massacre” not seen since World War Two.
The Russian region was invaded by Ukraine last year. Russia is now claiming to be back in control, with Ukrainian troops there isolated. On Friday, Russia’s defence ministry said it had reclaimed 28 parts of Kursk.
Meanwhile, G7 members have been meeting in Quebec, where host Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said all the members agreed with the US proposal of a ceasefire that is supported by Ukrainians.
“And we are now studying and looking at Russian reactions, so ultimately the ball is now in Russia’s court when it comes to Ukraine.”
Following the meeting, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the members were united in calling for a ceasefire with “no conditions”.
