Donald Trump may speak to Vladimir Putin on Ukraine this week: US envoy

Trump’s push for a ceasefire has been controversial, sparking anger in Kyiv and across Europe that the US may be trying to force Ukraine to capitulate to the Russians.

President Donald Trump may speak to Russian leader Vladimir Putin this week, White House special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday, as the US pushes for a quick ceasefire to end the war in Ukraine.

“I expect that there’ll be a call with both presidents this week,” Witkoff said on CNN’s State of the Union. “And we’re also continuing to engage and have conversation with the Ukrainians.”

Witkoff met with Putin in Moscow last week for talks. But the Russian leader balked at a US appeal for an immediate ceasefire, saying instead that issues still need to be resolved. Ukraine agreed to the terms of the truce deal in a meeting earlier in the week with Witkoff and other US officials in Saudi Arabia.

Still, Witkoff said of his conversation with Putin, “It was positive, it was a solution-based discussion,” he said. “He accepts the philosophy of President Trump.”

Trump “really expects there to be some sort of deal in the coming weeks and I believe that’s the case,” Witkoff said.

Trump’s push for a ceasefire has been controversial, sparking anger in Kyiv and across Europe that the US may be trying to force Ukraine to capitulate to the Russians. The US president has pressured the Ukrainians with a pause in arms shipments and intelligence sharing.

Trump, who called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy a “dictator,” has said the Ukrainians are more difficult to deal with than the Russians. And senior US officials have said it’s necessary to talk to both sides in order to bring peace to the battlefield after three years of war.

On Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had asked Witkoff to convey messages to Trump ahead of a possible phone call and added there was “cautious optimism” about the prospect of a ceasefire deal, according to the Interfax news agency.