No chance for immediate resolution to ongoing Ukraine war, says Trump
dpa
Washington/Moscow/Kiev
US President Donald Trump sees no chance for an immediate resolution to the Ukraine war following another phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.
'It was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate Peace,' Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
He said the call, which lasted approximately, one hour and 15 minutes, dealt with 'the attack on Russia's docked airplanes, by Ukraine, and also various other attacks that have been taking place by both sides.'
Trump said Putin told him that Russia would have to respond to those attacks 'on the airfields.'The two leaders also discussed Iran's nuclear programme.
'President Putin suggested that he will participate in the discussions with Iran and that he could, perhaps, be helpful in getting this brought to a rapid conclusion.'
Meanwhile, Putin accused Ukraine of terrorism in relation to two fatal train accidents in Russia over the weekend.
'The blow wasdeliberately aimed at the civilian population,' Putin said during a government session in Moscow, according to the state-run TASS news agency. He accused Ukraine of seeking to block talks on an end to the war.
Last weekend, two trains suffered accidents in the Kursk and Bryansk regions bordering Ukraine after bridges were blown up. Seven people died and dozens were injured in the passenger train derailed near the city of Bryansk.
Putin once again rejected calls for a ceasefire in the war with Ukraine, whether for 30 or for 60 days.
'Why should they be emboldened by allowing them a break from fighting?' he queried. He also backed Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who has said Russia should continue to hold talks with a view to achieving its war aims.
In Kiev, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky offered an immediate ceasefire that should last at least until a meeting with Putin. If no de-escalation emerged from a meeting of this kind, 'the ceasefire will end on the same day,' he told journalists.
Zelensky rejected the memorandum put forward by the Russian side in talks in Istanbul on Monday in which it listed demands for an end to the war. He termed it an ultimatum. Russia's demands could not be met, in particular its territorial demands, he said.
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