Trump may speak to Putin on Ukraine this week, US envoy says

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 US officials in Saudi Arabia.

Still, Witkoff said his conversation with Putin “was positive, it was a solution-based discussion.” He added that he believes Putin “accepts the philosophy of President Trump,” and that both leaders want the war to end.

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


US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz told ABC’s This Week that while Putin “will absolutely consider a ceasefire, there are some other things that he would like to see that President Trump’s national security team is considering over the coming days.”

“This is going to be some type of territory for future security guarantees, the future status of Ukraine,” he said. “We know the components. There is a deal that will be had here.”

Ukraine has sought assurances that the US and other allies will protect it in the event of a future Russian attack, but the White House has been reluctant to commit to that.

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.