Putin, Trump agreed on ending war peacefully: Kremlin

Moscow, Feb 13 (EFE).- Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump have agreed that ending the war in Ukraine was possible through peaceful means, the Kremlin said on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Trump and Putin spoke on the phone and agreed to keep in direct . They decided to focus on arranging a separate meeting and to instruct their assistants to begin the necessary preparations.

“There is agreement that a settlement is possible through peace negotiations,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during his daily briefing.

Peskov said the two leaders demonstrated the political will to engage in dialog aimed at resolving the conflict. “From now on, we must wait for the first results of the t work.”

Moscow has already begun forming a working group for the proposed negotiations.

Peskov stressed the significance of the call, marking the first high-level between Moscow and Washington in some time.

He confirmed that Putin and Trump agreed to “immediately” instruct their advisors to organize a bilateral meeting similar to the one held in Helsinki in 2018.

Peskov also contrasted the current US istration’s approach with that of the previous one led by Democrat Joe Biden.

“The previous US istration ed the viewpoint that everything possible should be done to continue the war. The current istration, as we can see, aligns with the stance that everything possible should be done to stop the war and ensure peace. We much prefer this istration’s stance. We are open to dialogue,” the Kremlin spokesperson said.

He clarified that the two leaders did not discuss issues such as a potential ceasefire, lifting sanctions, or the recognition of Ukrainian territories annexed by Russia, including the Crimean Peninsula.

Asked about possible European involvement, Peskov referred to the Minsk peace agreements, which turned 10 years old the day before, and recalled that Moscow cannot overlook what it sees as violations of those agreements by Kyiv and its European allies. “One must be patient,” he said, regarding the details of future negotiations.

On Wednesday, Trump confirmed on his social media platform, Truth Social, that he had reached an agreement with Putin to begin “negotiations immediately” to end the war in Ukraine.

According to Trump, the agreement was the result of a “long and very productive phone call,” during which both leaders expressed their willingness to “stop the millions of deaths occurring in the war between Russia and Ukraine.”

Meanwhile, the Kremlin reported that Putin reminded his counterpart that achieving lasting peace requires eliminating the root causes of the conflict – notably, the expansion of NATO.

Trump has repeatedly announced plans to speak with the Russian president in recent weeks. The US leader has paid much attention to the conflict in Ukraine and expressed his desire to help bring it to an end. EFE

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