The Trump administration has negotiated a limited cease-fire covering Russia and Ukraine’s energy sites, but a broader truce is still in the works.
Russian negotiators may be intentionally drawing out the talks for a cease-fire after their more than three-year war with Ukraine, President Donald Trump assessed in a new interview.
In the past week, the White House has negotiated some incremental cease-fire proposals between Russia and Ukraine. In recent days, Moscow and Kyiv voiced support for a 30-day moratorium on strikes targeting each other’s energy sites. By March 25, the White House announced Moscow and Kyiv have since agreed, in principle, to another deal limiting hostilities in the Black Sea.
Trump sat for an interview with Newsmax just hours after the White House announced new progress on the limited Black Sea cease-fire plan. During the wide-ranging discussion, host Greg Kelly asked the president to assess whether Russian negotiators are slow-walking the peace process.
“I don’t know. I mean, I’ll let you know at a certain point, but I think that Russia wants to see an end to it,” Trump said. “But it could be they’re dragging their feet.”
Trump added that he has, himself, drawn out past negotiations for one reason or another.
“I’ve done it over the years,” the president said.
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Trump reiterated that he still believes Russia would like to see the fighting end.
Addressing the recent negotiations on March 25, the Kremlin said it considers the 30-day pause on strikes targeting Ukrainian energy facilities to be effective as of March 18. The Kremlin said this moratorium could be extended if all parties agree.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in another March 25 statement, said, “It has been agreed with the American side that a cease-fire in our energy sector can begin today.”
Further negotiations appear to be necessary before any Black Sea cease-fire can begin. During a Tuesday White House event, Trump said his administration is reviewing “five or six conditions” that the Russian side has attached to the Black Sea cease-fire discussion.
Earlier this month, Zelenskyy voiced support for a more extensive cease-fire proposal, in which both sides would halt all hostilities for at least 30 days. Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed some openness to this broader cease-fire. Still, he raised questions about the proposal, including who would monitor for violations, and whether Ukraine and its various backers would be allowed to use the pause in fighting as an opportunity to rearm and prepare Kyiv’s forces for further hostilities.
Putin also asked what a broader cease-fire would mean for the fighting in Russia’s western Kursk border region. Ukrainian forces have controlled a section of that Russian territory since August last year. Last month, Zelenskyy suggested he could trade Ukraine’s Kursk holdings back to Moscow, in return for some of the territory Russia has seized from Ukraine since 2014.
Russian forces have recently reported significant progress in retaking their Kursk territory from Ukrainian forces. If Moscow can retake all of its border territory before a pause in the fighting, it could leave Zelenskyy with a weaker hand at the negotiating table.
