TRANSCRIPT
''I can't say we are on the 10th yard line of peace, and we've never been closer to a peace deal than we are in this moment"
That was Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary speaking ahead what its promised to be a critical talk to reach a permanent cease-fire in Ukraine.
The presidents of the United States and Russia, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, will talk on the phone [[MARCH 18]] to try to reach an agreement that puts a definitive end to the war.
The two Presidents already spoke at the beginning of the year, rehearsing a rapprochement between the two historically rival countries.
Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy has agreed to the U-S proposal for a 30-day truce, but the agreement is still pending Russia's involvement.
Mr Zelenskyy calls for pressure to be put on Moscow to accept the deal.
"It is very important that tomorrow marks one week since the U.S. proposal for a ceasefire in the sky, at sea, and on the front lines has been on the table. The implementation of this proposal could have begun long ago. Every day in wartime is a matter of human lives. Now, almost a week later, it’s clear to everyone in the world – even to those who refused to acknowledge the truth for the past three years – that it is (Russian President Vladimir) Putin who continues to drag out this war."
Asked by journalists what President Trump would do if the proposal was rejected, he said he was confident of a positive outcome, but alluded to having a plan B.
"I do have leverage, but I don't want to talk about leverage now, because right now we are talking to him and based on the statements he made today they were pretty positive I think."
The original US proposal was approved by Ukraine after a meeting with the Washington and Kiev delegations in Saudi Arabia last week.
But Mr Putin said that even though he agrees with the idea of a ceasefire, there are ‘serious questions’ about how it would be implemented.
He questioned, for example, whether Ukraine would continue to receive weapons during the 30-day truce, whether it would use the time to train its armed forces and how the ceasefire would be monitored along 2,000 kilometres of border.
He also questioned what would happen to Russia's Kursk region, where its troops now surround Ukrainian soldiers.
Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for President Putin, said that the full content of today's call was still being prepared.
“We never do this (disclose topics of the conversation), we never get ahead of events. The conversation is indeed being prepared. But in our understanding, of course, conversations between two presidents are not subject to any prior discussion of the content.”
The call between Trump and Putin is also expected to address Europe's largest nuclear power plant.
Officials from both Washington and Kiev are studying an agreement that would allow the US to exploit minerals on Ukrainian territory.
The proposal was put on hold after Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy clashed in a conversation with journalists at the White House at the end of February.
Both Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly accused each other of risking an accident through military action near the Russian-occupied power station in Ukraine.
US President Trump says the works on this matter are already underway.
"But I think we had a lot already discussed, very much by both sides. Ukraine and Russia. We are already talking about that. Dividing up certain assets. Yeah. And they've been working on that."
As the US and Russia prepare to negotiate, world leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron say it is up to Russia to prove its intentions of peace.
And there are others that agree with Mr Macron.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy says is now time for Putin to prove he is serious about achieving a ceasefire.
"Now it is Putin who stands in the spotlight. Putin who must answer. Putin, who must choose. Are you serious Mr. Putin about peace? Will you stop the fighting or will you drag your feet and play games? Play lip service to a ceasefire while still pummeling Ukraine. My warning to Mr. Putin is this, if you are serious, prove it with a full and unconditional ceasefire."
And he adds that Europe will get further involvement in the ceasefire is rejected.
"And if Putin does not deliver, and I must tell the house that I currently see no sign yet, that he is The G7 meeting helped us ready the tools to get Russia to negotiate seriously. We're not waiting for the Kremlin. If they reject a ceasefire, we have more cards that we can play. We can all see the impact the G7's unprecedented sanctions have had on Russia's faltering economy."
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas also worries about Putin's intentions, saying Russia "can't really be trusted".
"Those conditions that they have presented, it shows that they don't really want peace actually because they are presenting as conditions all their ultimate goals that they want to achieve from the war."
President Putin is demanding important concessions from Kyiv, such as recognising the invaded Ukrainian territories as belonging to Russia, banning Ukraine from joining NATO, and banning foreign peacekeeping troops from entering Ukrainian territory.
In the meantime, airstrikes continue in the region.
Russia announced on Monday that its forces shot down dozens of Ukrainian drones in the Kursk region, while Ukraine reported that its forces were conducting defensive operations as planned in Kursk.
Meanwhile, the world waits for what could be a decisive call in the long-lasting war.
