Michael Gabriel Hernandez
13 March 2025•Update: 14 March 2025
WASHINGTON
US President Donald Trump struck a note of tempered optimism Thursday amid negotiations with Russia on a ceasefire proposal to bring the Kremlin's war against Ukraine to a halt for at least 30 days.
Addressing reporters as he hosted NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office, Trump said his officials in Moscow have informed him that the "very serious" talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and others are "going okay," but stressed "it doesn't mean anything until we hear what the final outcome is."
"We'd like to see a ceasefire from Russia, and we have not been working in the dark. We've been discussing with Ukraine land, and pieces of land, that would be kept and lost, and all of the other elements of a final agreement," Trump said. "It's not an easy process. But phase one is the ceasefire. A lot of the individual subjects have been discussed, though."
Trump said that "a lot of the details" of a potential agreement to fully end the war "have actually been discussed" with the parties.
"Now we're going to see whether or not Russia's there, and if they're not, it'll be a very disappointing moment for the world," he said.
US officials have stressed that the ball is in Russia's court after Ukraine agreed to the ceasefire proposal on Tuesday during talks with the US in Saudi Arabia.
Putin said earlier Thursday that his country agrees with proposals to end hostilities, but only if the agreement would “lead to long-term peace and eliminate the initial causes of this crisis.”
