But despite the pressures of the President of the United States, his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky reaffirmed that the Crimea annexed by Moscow in 2014 and which could remain Russian as part of a regulation, belonged to kyiv.
The Russian and Ukrainian states “are very close to an agreement and the two parties should now meet, at the highest level, to” finalize “, wrote Donald Trump on his social social platform shortly after his arrival in Rome where he must attend the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday.
His emissary Steve Witkoff, a privileged American interlocutor of the Kremlin, met Vladimir Putin on Friday, for the fourth time since the revival of relations between the two powers on the initiative of the American president.
“How are you going, Mr. President?” Asked Witkoff, all smiles, shaking the hand of Vladimir Putin, who replied “Very well, thank you!” In English, according to a video broadcast by the Russian presidency.
Mr. Putin’s diplomatic advisor, Iouri Ouchakov, then said that the interviews had lasted three hours and had been “constructive and very useful”.
Russian-American rapprochement
“This discussion made it possible to bring the positions of Russia and the United States not only to Ukraine, but also on several other international questions,” he told journalists.
According to him, “there was question in particular the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between the representatives of Russia and Ukraine”.
No direct negotiations with a view to a conflict cessation has taken place between Russians and Ukrainians since those which took place during the very first months of the Russian offensive, in 2022, and which had not succeeded.
“We are coming to progress,” said the Russian emissary for economic issues at the international Kirill Dmitriev, one of the interlocutors of the Americans.
The United States has had separate discussions with Russians and Ukrainians for several weeks in order to find an agreement on an end of hostilities.
In this context, Donald Trump assured Time magazine, in an interview broadcast on Friday evening, that Russia would retain Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula which it annexed in 2014 and whose recognition as Russian territory is mentioned, according to media, in the American settlement proposal.
“Russia will keep Crimea. And Zelensky understands that, ”insists the American president in Time. He again made Ukraine there the responsibility of the conflict, considering that “what made war begin was when they (the Ukrainians, editor’s note) began to speak of joining NATO”.
These possible territorial concessions are very divisive in Ukraine, a country whose Russia now controls around 20 % of the area.
“One of the scenarios (…) would be to abandon territories. It is unfair, but for peace, temporary peace, perhaps it is a solution, temporary, “said the mayor of kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, to the BBC on Friday.
“Our position remains unchanged (…), all temporarily occupied territories belong to Ukraine,” hammered President Zelensky before the press.
Not sure to go to Rome
Since the famous altercation in the oval office on February 28, Donald Trump continued to attack his Ukrainian counterpart, which he imputed blockages in the negotiations.
Mr. Zelensky also said on Friday evening that he was no longer sure to “have time” to go to the funeral of Pope Francis and therefore possibly review the American president.
Thursday evening in the United States, Russian diplomacy chief Sergei Lavrov had assured CBS television that his country was ready for an agreement for fighting to cease.
Declarations in the aftermath of Russian missile strikes on kyiv which left at least 12 dead and dozens of injured. According to the Ukrainian president, one of the missiles was produced in North Korea with “at least 116 components from other countries, most of which, unfortunately, were manufactured by American companies”.
This Russian murderous bombardment pushed Donald Trump to adopt a less conciliatory tone with Vladimir Putin: “Vladimir, stops!”, He annoyed, “not happy”, on Truth Social.
He also assured that Washington exerted “strong pressure” on Moscow in order to end the conflict, judging that Russia would make “a fairly large concession” by agreeing not to seize all of Ukraine.
kyiv and its European allies accuse Russia of prolonging the talks to design by always publicly presenting maximalist requirements: the control of the five Ukrainian regions whose annexation it claims, the renunciation of Ukraine to join the Atlantic Alliance and its demilitarization.
Ukraine wants solid military security guarantees from its Western allies to dissuade Moscow from attacking again after the conclusion of a possible ceasefire.
