A “friendly, frank and concrete” phone call lasting over 90 minutes, in which Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly told his American counterpart Donald Trump his desire to declare a truce with Ukraine on May 9, on the occasion of Victory Day (over Nazi Germany in 1945).
Putin also assured Trump that an agreement to resolve the conflict in Ukraine was now close. The American president reported that he was the one who suggested a truce in Ukraine: “I suggested to him to make a ceasefire for a while, and I think he could do it. Even if it were just a short truce, there are so many deaths”, he added, speaking then of an agreement to end the conflict for which Putin “had been ready for a long time, but someone made it difficult for him”.
On this point, Putin’s advisor, Yuri Ushakov, stated that the two presidents agree that Volodymyr Zelensky would be responsible for the prolongation of the war, with the support of European countries.
According to Ushakov, “The Russian leader explicitly stated that Kiev is resorting to openly terrorist methods by attacking purely civilian targets on Russian territory. Our president reiterated that the goals of the special military operation will be achieved in any case,” but Putin “would prefer to reach a peaceful solution through diplomacy.” “Of course – Ushakov continued – we would prefer this to be the result of a negotiation process, for which Zelensky must respond positively to the well-known proposals that have been repeatedly presented, including from the American side”.
Iran and enriched uranium: “Putin has proposed ideas on the Iranian nuclear program”
During the phone call, the two presidents also discussed the Iranian conflict. “Putin believes that Trump’s decision to extend the ceasefire is the right one, to give negotiations a chance and stabilize the situation,” explained the Russian president’s advisor. The two leaders also spoke about uranium enriched to 60 percent, indicated by the US administration as one of the main objectives of the military commands.
According to what Ushakov told the Russian news agency Tass, “Putin proposed ideas on the Iranian nuclear program.” It is not clear what this is about or whether Moscow has offered to take custody of the enriched uranium. Already in recent days, Russian diplomacy had exposed itself with the visit of Tehran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, saying it was willing to transfer the stock of enriched material outside Iranian borders.