Trump and Putin: US president to hold talks with Kremlin leader
Donald Trump, the US president, announced he would hold talks with Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader.
"Yes, I will. We had a very good dialogue," Mr Trump told a White House briefing on Friday.
The Kremlin, however, said no preparations were currently underway for a phone call between the two heads of state. However, "such a discussion could be quickly organized," said Dmitry Peskov, the Russian president's spokesman. The comments were cited by Interfax and DW news agencies.
Mr Trump previously held phone talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and representatives of the "coalition of the willing" during Mr Zelensky's visit to Paris to discuss security guarantees for Kyiv. Citing Reuters, Mr Trump reportedly used a one-hour call to urge European leaders to stop buying Russian oil and to exert economic pressure on China, which is backing Russia’s military actions in Ukraine.
Ukraine's security guarantee framework set
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said representatives of the "coalition of the willing" had agreed on a shared framework for security guarantees for Ukraine. He said the Ukrainian Armed Forces would play a key role in ensuring security. All participants at the Paris meeting on 4 September also agreed that Moscow was rejecting any peace initiatives to end the war Russia had launched against Ukraine.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that 26 countries planned to join a peacekeeping mission once a ceasefire was reached. The nations have "formally agreed to either send a contingent to Ukraine or provide resources to support this coalition, ensuring security at sea or in airspace," Mr Macron explained.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
