Trump says US talks with Putin over ceasefire in Ukraine have been 'productive'

Metatube

Russian President Vladimir Putin must stop stalling over a ceasefire in Ukraine and come to the table, Sir Keir Starmer has said as he prepares to convene world leaders to discuss peacekeeping efforts.  The prime minister will host a video call on Saturday with as many as 25 countries, to develop the peacekeeping mission he has dubbed the “coalition of the willing”.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- • Subscribe to ITV News on YouTube: http://bit.ly/2lOHmNj  • Get breaking news and more stories at http://www.itv.com/news  Follows ITV News on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@itvnews?lang=en Follow ITV News on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itvnews/ Follow ITV News on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/itvnews/  Follow ITV News on Twitter: https://twitter.com/itvnews

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00:00He still hasn't had a definitive answer from his Russian counterpart, however Donald Trump

00:06says he remains optimistic that a ceasefire can be achieved in Ukraine.

00:12We've had some very good calls today with Russia and with Ukraine, they've agreed for

00:18a ceasefire if we can get it with Russia and it's not easy, it's a tough one, but I think

00:26we're doing it.

00:29From the Russian leader, another suitably ambiguous statement that says nothing.

00:37As everyone knows, I had a telephone conversation with President Trump, our Minister of Foreign

00:41Affairs had the first contact with his American counterpart, so in general the situation seems

00:46to be moving, well, let's see what comes of it.

00:52As their commander in chief is asked to consider peace, Russian forces continue with the business

00:58of war.

00:59Releasing footage they say is from occupied parts of Ukraine.

01:06And from the parts of Russia the Ukrainians occupied until this week.

01:11Ukraine had hoped the land they held in Kursk would strengthen their position in peace negotiations.

01:18Russian troops relishing the Ukrainian retreat suggest that hope was misplaced.

01:26The front line collapsed in days when they pushed forward.

01:32The Ukrainians deny claims from President Trump that their soldiers are surrounded.

01:36Dihor Prezilo was part of the Ukrainian delegation in this week's talks in Saudi Arabia when

01:41the ceasefire was proposed.

01:44What's your feeling about President Putin's response to your proposal?

01:50There is nothing difficult actually, either you have this goodwill and determination for

01:55interim peace, let's call it that way also, but nothing specific so far.

02:03Does that surprise you?

02:05Well it does not surprise in the direct meaning of the word, but well, if you want peace you

02:13have, or at least some silence mode, you have to show it and it doesn't take a lot of efforts

02:19now to declare this silence mode, so not too much to start with.

02:26For now though, there is no silent mode, just the ongoing din of war and the dreadful human

02:34consequence.

02:35Emma Murphy, News at Ten, Kyiv.

02:38We'll talk to Robert now in Washington for us tonight.

02:42Evening to you Robert.

02:43Now the US is clearly walking a tightrope getting Putin to agree to a ceasefire.

02:49What do you think Donald Trump's strategy will be if Putin simply piles on endless conditions,

02:55poses more and more questions?

02:59Well I think it might be a little bit charitable, Julie, to talk about a Trump strategy in terms

03:04of how to respond to Russian delays and obfuscation.

03:07I think here what we're sensing is there are just expressions of hope and then they're

03:12not looking much beyond that.

03:13You heard that from Donald Trump in Emma's report, but we also heard that today from

03:17Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, when he held a press conference up in Canada.

03:22He says, Rubio says, look, there is genuine momentum, positive forward momentum, but it's

03:29not in public, it's in these sort of secret negotiations.

03:33He was also asked, look, does he trust Vladimir Putin?

03:37That visibly annoyed him.

03:38He said, look, this is not a game about trust, about personalities, about reality TV.

03:43This is about the pragmatic pursuit of national self-interest.

03:47I think what we can say at the end of this pivotal week is that Russia is playing for

03:52time, perhaps genuinely trying to assess that US 30-day ceasefire proposal, but also delaying

03:58for tactical reasons while its forces make real progress in the Kursk region.

04:03And there's no sign whatsoever that Vladimir Putin or the Kremlin is abandoning their core

04:08grievances that led to the invasion of Ukraine in the first place.

04:12So tonight, we're left with this kind of strange sort of divide, officially the White

04:17House optimistic, but in private, analysts absolutely sceptical about this ceasefire

04:22proposal and worried and gravely concerned that it could only strengthen politically

04:28and diplomatically Vladimir Putin's hand.

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