A senior Kremlin official says Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed with a proposal by US President Donald Trump to continue to work toward “a settlement around Ukraine” through two specially created working groups.
Presidential aide Yury Ushakov said on Sunday that Putin and Trump spoke by telephone for one hour and 15 minutes ahead of Trump’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Florida.
Ushakov said it was notable that Putin agreed with the US proposal to continue working on a settlement around Ukraine within the framework of two working groups –one on security and the other on economic issues.
He added that the details of the working groups will be agreed upon as soon as early January.
Regarding the push by Ukrainian and European leaders for a temporary ceasefire ahead of a final peace settlement, Ushakov said the two presidents “hold similar views” that such a ceasefire “under the pretext of preparing for a referendum or under other pretexts will only lead to a prolongation of the conflict and is fraught with the resumption of hostilities.”
His remarks are viewed as an attempt to keep in check Zelenskyy’s intention to put a peace plan to a referendum if Kyiv is forced to make concessions on territory.
Ushakov stressed that to bring about an end to the conflict, Kyiv “must first and foremost make a bold and responsible political decision in line with the work being done through Russian-American channels.”
