Putin, Trump back continued negotiations on Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump have expressed strong support for continuing direct negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian delegations during a telephone call initiated by Washington earlier on Tuesday.

According to Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, the leaders also discussed the possibility of raising the level of representatives from both sides to strengthen progress toward a settlement.

“Putin thanked Trump for the hospitality and organization of the recent summit in Alaska, praising the progress made there toward resolving the Ukrainian crisis,” Ushakov said.

Trump, for his part, also briefed Putin on his talks at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several European leaders.

As per Ushakov, both presidents have agreed to remain in close contact on the Ukrainian issue as well as other pressing international and bilateral matters.

Ushakov said the conversation between Putin and Trump was “frank and very constructive,” adding that Putin highlighted Trump’s personal role in efforts to achieve a long-term settlement in Ukraine.

Notably last week on August 16, the United States and Russia held a much-anticipated truce talks meeting in Alaska to discuss bringing an end to the conflict in Ukraine.

Although both Putin and Trump described the meeting as constructive, the talks did not yield results as there was no agreement on ceasefire.

Today on August 19, Ukrainian president Zelenskyy reached White House where he met Trump in a bid to arrive at a peace deal.