US officials expressed optimism Sunday that a Ukraine-Russia ceasefire deal could be reached in “weeks”, as US President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin were expected to discuss a possible truce.
The United States last week proposed a halt in fighting in the three-year war after talks in Saudi Arabia, which Kyiv accepted. Washington and Kyiv’s European allies were pressing Moscow to accept it too.
Putin however has given no clear answer, instead listing a string of conditions and raising “serious questions” over the proposal.
Trump’s envoy for the conflict, Steve Witkoff, who met for several hours with Putin days ago, told CNN that he thinks “the two presidents are going to have a really good and positive discussion this week”.
Trump, he added, “really expects there to be some sort of deal in the coming weeks, maybe, and I believe that’s the case”.