Russian President Vladimir Putin today insisted that he wants to “eliminate” the “causes” of the conflict with Ukraine and “guarantee” Russia’s security, two days after the first peace talks of Constantinople, which failed to lead.

Moscow’s goal “is to eliminate the causes that have caused this crisis, to create the conditions for a lasting peace and to guarantee the security of the Russian state,” the Russian president said in an interview on state television.

Appointment

In a post yesterday at Truth Social, US President Donald Trump said he would have separate telephone communications on Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski and NATO leaders.

Trump’s phone calls will start with Putin at 10am (17:00 Greek time): “I will talk, by phone, with President Vladimir Putin in Russia on Monday at 10:00 am. The issues of the conversation will be the end of the ‘blood bath’ that kills, on average, more than 5,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers a week, as well as trade. I will then talk to Ukrainian President Zelenski and then, along with President Zelenski, with various NATO members. I hope it is a productive day, that a ceasefire is achieved and that this very violent war ends, a war that should never have happened. “

Trump’s phone calls will take place a few days after Russia and Ukraine had their first direct talks from the first weeks of the war. These talks in Istanbul lasted less than two hours on Friday, with Russia keeping a hard line on both sides only ending in a specific agreement for exchanging prisoners, an indication that they remain a long distance with regard to the end of the conflict.

A Ukrainian official confirmed that Zelenski plans to talk to Trump on Monday after Trump spoke to Putin.

“If [ο Τραμπ] It can, then our president can. We are waiting and always able to speak with joy, “said the official, who spoke to the Washington Post on the condition of anonymity.

Ukraine does not want to discuss specific terms of a ceasefire, the official said, “because we believe that the ceasefire must be complete and unconditionally.”

“The murders must stop,” the official said, adding that Ukraine has already agreed on a ceasefire and the only country that needs to be pressured to do so is Russia.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday that Russia will prepare and deliver a list of ceasefire terms to Ukraine, according to TASS, the Russian state -run news agency. Peskov also described a future, personal meeting between Putin and Trump “definitely necessary” for “a serious debate on international affairs and regional issues at the highest level, including, of course, the crisis around Ukraine”, according to Tass.

Trump told reporters on Friday that he wanted to meet Putin “as soon as we could arrange it”. He said he had thought about meeting the Russian president on his way back from the Middle East, but wanted to return to his home country to meet his new grandchild. (His daughter, Tiffany, gave birth this week). “And I think in two or three weeks we could make it a much more secure place,” Trump said.

Trump has repeatedly claimed to end the war, initially promising that he will stop battles in Ukraine before he even sworn.