US President's special envoy Stephen Witkoff will travel to Moscow this week for talks on a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. This was stated by White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt.
“He will urge the Russians to participate in these talks and we hope they will agree“, she told Fox News.
US President Donald Trump's national security adviser Mike Walz had a phone conversation with his "Russian counterpart" on Wednesday, the parties also discussed a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Ukraine, Leavitt added, without specifying which Russian representative Walz spoke with.
The participants in the negotiations for a settlement in Ukraine are discussing not only a ceasefire, but also the territorial issue. This was stated by US President Donald Trump during a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Michael Martin at the White House.
“We also discussed territories and other related issues“, he said, touching upon the progress of the negotiations. The American leader noted that "a lot of details" are being discussed, not just a ceasefire, but he did not give specifics.
"We know what territories we're talking about, whether there will be a withdrawal there or not", he added, without specifying what specific steps he had in mind.
Speaking of the possibility of a ceasefire and other discussed proposals for Ukraine, he added: "I think it makes sense for Russia. There are also a lot of disadvantages for Russia". The American leader admitted that he was not ready to give a forecast as to whether Moscow would agree to these proposals.
Trump emphasized that Volodymyr Zelensky had not wanted peace in Ukraine until recently, but he had already agreed to it.
"And we are already close to doing something. We have sorted out Ukraine. And as you know, I've always said that Ukraine is probably the more difficult country in the negotiations“, the head of the White House noted.
„You saw, a week ago, interesting things happened here“, he continued, addressing journalists. "There was a person in the White House who didn't seem to want peace. Now he agreed to peace. So we'll see what happens", Trump concluded.
Trump said that the fighting in Ukraine is practically a war between NATO and Russia.
The American leader recalled that during his first term in power in Washington (2017-2021), the member states of the North Atlantic Alliance, under his pressure, began to significantly increase military spending.
"The money was coming in billions and billions of dollars and NATO became much stronger. Now NATO has spent most of that money fighting this terrible war," Trump said.
"It's a shame they had to do that," said the US Chief of Staff.
When asked if the US sees its future in the North Atlantic Alliance, he replied: "NATO should treat us fairly". "If they pay their bills and if they do what they're supposed to do," Trump added. At the same time, he stressed that he had previously warned about the US's reluctance to come to the aid of those countries whose defense spending Washington is not happy with. "If you don't pay your bills, I won't help you," said the White House chief.