Donald Trump mentioned Vladimir Putin was not prepared for an “speedy peace” in Ukraine after an hour-long dialog on Wednesday throughout which the Russian president warned of retaliation for Kyiv’s drone assault on his nation’s bomber fleet.
The US president mentioned the decision with Putin was “good”, masking each the preventing with Ukraine and ongoing negotiations with Iran over its nuclear programme, however added that it was not a dialog that will result in a breakthrough in peace talks with Kyiv.
“President Putin did say, and really strongly, that he must reply to the current assault on the airfields,” Trump mentioned on Fact Social after the decision, which he mentioned lasted for an hour and quarter-hour.
“We mentioned the assault on Russia’s docked airplanes, by Ukraine, and likewise numerous different assaults which have been going down by either side,” Trump added. “It was a very good dialog, however not a dialog that can result in speedy Peace.”
Putin informed Trump that Ukraine had tried to sabotage the peace talks by attacking civilian infrastructure however Moscow had not “given in to the provocation”, in accordance with Yuri Ushakov, the Russian president’s international coverage adviser.
The dialog between Trump and Putin, the second between the 2 leaders in lower than a month, got here after the Russian president rejected Ukraine’s requires a direct ceasefire and a top-level summit to finish Moscow’s full-scale invasion of the nation.
In a televised cupboard assembly earlier on Wednesday, Putin accused Ukraine of “organising terrorist assaults” after a daring collection of strikes behind enemy traces, and dismissed his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s phrases for peace.
“How can we’ve got conferences like this beneath these circumstances? What’s there to speak about? Who has negotiations with . . . terrorists?” Putin mentioned.
Zelenskyy had hours earlier rejected Russia’s phrases for peace, saying its calls for had been an “ultimatum” that will be tantamount to Ukraine’s give up.
The duelling statements appeared to depart low-level peace talks brokered by Turkey and the US, the primary for the reason that struggle’s early weeks in 2022, in tatters after representatives of Russia and Ukraine met in Istanbul for a second time on Monday.
The 2 sides discovered little frequent floor past agreeing to carry prisoner exchanges, whereas the preventing has solely intensified for the reason that first spherical of talks in Might.
Moscow and Kyiv exchanged paperwork laying out their phrases for a peace settlement on Monday, making it clear they continue to be as far aside as at any level throughout the struggle.
Moscow’s memorandum units out powerful circumstances, together with calls for for the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from a number of main cities and territories, a ban on Kyiv becoming a member of army alliances and the lifting of all sanctions in opposition to Russia.
“This can’t be referred to as a memorandum,” Zelenskyy mentioned on Wednesday. “It’s an ultimatum that the Russian facet is attempting to impose on us.”
He added: “We’re prepared for prisoner exchanges, however I contemplate it pointless to proceed diplomatic conferences in Istanbul that don’t resolve something.”
Putin, in the meantime, blamed Ukraine for a collection of railway bombings that he mentioned had been “completely geared toward derailing the negotiating course of” and accused Kyiv of “intentionally focusing on civilians”.
Kyiv inflicted a few of the struggle’s worst harm on Russia’s army infrastructure over the weekend.
Ukrainian drones that had been hidden in vans throughout an 18-month operation hit airfields deep inside Russia on Sunday, dealing probably important harm to Moscow’s strategic bomber capabilities.
Within the cupboard assembly, Putin accused Ukraine of finishing up a collection of railway bombings on the identical day during which at the very least seven passengers had been killed and 73 extra injured.
Ukraine has celebrated the strikes on the airfields, in addition to a separate bombing of Russia’s bridge to the occupied Crimean peninsula that passed off on Tuesday. It has not claimed duty for the railway bombings.
Putin mentioned Ukraine had resorted to “terrorist assaults” as a result of Russia maintained the higher hand on the battlefield.
“Why ought to we encourage them by giving them a breather on the battlefield that they’ll use to prop up their regime with western weapons, proceed pressured mobilisation, and plot extra terrorist assaults?” he mentioned.
Putin’s feedback made it clear that Russia had no intention of declaring a direct ceasefire or holding a summit with Zelenskyy, two of Ukraine’s fundamental calls for on the talks on Monday.
Ushakov informed reporters {that a} summit with Zelenskyy had “by no means been on the sensible agenda”, however mentioned the talks in Istanbul had been “helpful”, including that Moscow hoped they’d proceed, in accordance with Interfax.
Studying from Russia’s doc about its phrases for peace in a briefing with reporters, Zelenskyy dismissed calls for he described as near-identical to these made by Moscow within the early phases of the struggle in 2022.
He referred to as on the US to hit Russia with new sanctions if it rejected Ukraine’s supply of a summit and ceasefire.
“If there is no such thing as a understanding concerning the want to de-escalate or a couple of clear imaginative and prescient to finish the battle, then the ceasefire shall be instantly and unilaterally damaged by the Russian facet,” he mentioned.
Ukraine and Russia plan to hold out what Vladimir Medinsky, the pinnacle of Moscow’s delegation in Istanbul, mentioned can be the most important prisoner alternate throughout the struggle this weekend, involving as much as 1,200 individuals from all sides.
A parallel alternate of 6,000 troopers’ stays can be beneath approach, although Medinsky has refused to acknowledge that Russia’s casualty numbers are as excessive as Ukraine’s and informed Putin that Kyiv “in all probability [has] a lot, a lot fewer” at hand over.
