War in Ukraine: Vladimir Putin sent a mysterious message to Donald Trump...
Steph Deschamps / March 16, 2025
The Kremlin announced on Friday that Vladimir Putin had given US envoy Steve Witkoff a message, the content of which is unknown, to Donald Trump about his proposed ceasefire in Ukraine, a project that arouses both reservations and cautious “optimism” for Moscow.
The Russian president has “transmitted additional information and signals to President Trump via Witkoff”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, sounding “cautiously optimistic”, during his daily briefing attended by AFP.
“When Mr. Witkoff brings all the information to President Trump, we will determine the timing for a conversation” between the two presidents, he said.
Under pressure from the US, Ukraine agreed earlier this week to an immediate and unconditional truce if it were also followed by Russia, which has so far refrained from giving a clear answer.
On Thursday, Vladimir Putin expressed reservations, citing “important issues” to be resolved first, while taking care not to completely reject Donald Trump's initiative.
“We're for it, but there are nuances,” the Russian president had notably declared, saying he wanted to ‘talk it over’ with the Americans and ‘maybe call President’ Trump.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced his Russian counterpart's “manipulative remarks”, accusing him of “dragging things out”.
Donald Trump, while describing Putin's latest comments as “very promising”, warned that “it would be a very disappointing moment for the world” if Russia rejected his plan for a 30-day suspension of fighting in Ukraine.
“I'd like to meet him or talk with him,” he added, ‘but we need to resolve the issue quickly’ of a truce, Trump continued.