Trump gives Putin a deadline to respond to ceasefire
17 April 23:22
US President Donald Trump said that this week the US will hear from the Kremlin on the ceasefire proposals. He said this during a press conference before a meeting with Italian Prime Minister George Meloni, Komersant ukrainskyi reports citing CNN.
“We will get an answer from them this week. In fact, it’s very soon. And we’ll see,” Trump said.
He added that he wants this war to end.
“But we want it to stop. We want the death and the killing to stop,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office.
On Thursday, Trump was asked about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and he reiterated that the war between Russia and Ukraine would not have started if he had been president.
“I don’t hold Zelensky responsible, but I’m not very happy that that war started. It was a war that would never have started if I had been president,” Trump told reporters, adding that he was not a “big fan” of Zelenskiy.
Trump also expressed hope that the US would sign a minerals agreement with Ukraine next Thursday, April 24.
What is known about the energy truce
At the end of March, the United States, Ukraine, and Russia published the results of the technical-level talks held on March 23-25 in Saudi Arabia. The contacts between Ukraine and Russia were not conducted directly, but through the United States as an intermediary.
During the talks, the parties agreed to develop mechanisms to implement the agreement on the prohibition of strikes on energy facilities in both countries. The Ukrainian side handed over a list of energy infrastructure facilities that should not be targeted by Russian attacks. In response, the Kremlin published a list of energy facilities in both Russia and Ukraine that, according to the agreement, are not subject to shelling during the 30-day ceasefire.
As early as March 26, the Russian Ministry of Defense accused Ukraine of violating the agreement on a mutual ceasefire on energy facilities, but the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine denied the accusations.
On the night of March 28, Russian troops launched a massive attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, damaging Naftogaz’s gas production facilities.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia reserves the right not to comply with the 30-day ceasefire on energy facilities. This happened after Moscow repeatedly accused Ukraine of violating the ceasefire, although the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has already denied these statements.
