Faisal Abbas 
Ukrainian soldiers during military operations near Chasif Yar, January 27, 2025 (Anatolia)
US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday night that he intends to speak with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, tomorrow, Tuesday, as part of the American-Russian rapprochement to end the war in Ukraine. This coincided with Russia’s announcement that it would seek “strict” guarantees in any peace agreement on Ukraine.
“I will talk to President Putin on Tuesday,” Trump told reporters on board the presidential plane, adding that “a lot of work was achieved,” and explained that he had “discussed many issues with both sides, Ukraine and Russia,” speaking about the “sharing” lands and electrical stations. He continued: “We want to see if we can end this war. Perhaps we can, and perhaps not, but I think we have a very good opportunity.”
In addition, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister said, in statements published today, Monday, that Russia will seek “strict” guarantees in any peace agreement on Ukraine to exclude NAIF countries Kiev from membership and that Ukraine remain neutral, while US President Donald Trump said that he intends to speak with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin tomorrow, Tuesday.
Trump is trying to obtain Putin’s support for a 30 -day ceasefire proposal that Ukraine accepted last week, which Putin says needs to be decisive conditions to be acceptable. “I will talk to President Putin on Tuesday. A lot of work has been done during the weekend,” Trump told reporters on the presidential plane during a late flight to Washington from Florida. “We want to see if we can end this war. Perhaps we can, and perhaps not, but I think we have a very good opportunity,” he added.
On Sunday, US envoy Steve Whizov told CNN after his return from a meeting he described as “positive” with Putin in Moscow that Trump is expected to speak with his Russian counterpart this week about the ways to end the three -year war in Ukraine.
In an interview with the Russian newspaper “Ezvsitia”, it did not refer to the ceasefire proposal, Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said that any long -term peace treaty on Ukraine should meet Russia’s demands. “We will demand strict security guarantees part of this agreement,” the newspaper quoted Grushko as saying.
“Among these guarantees is the neutral situation of Ukraine, and NATO countries refused to accept it in the bloc,” he added. Moscow confirmed its conclusive opposition to the deployment of monitors from NATO in Ukraine, and Grushko has again stressed the Kremlin’s position in this regard. Britain and France expressed their willingness to send a peacekeeping force to monitor any ceasefire in Ukraine. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanizi stated that his country is also open to any requests.
“It does not matter under any designation, NATO forces are deployed on Ukrainian lands, whether they are affiliated with the European Union, NATO, or a national capacity,” Grushko said. He continued, “If they appear there, this means that they are spread in a conflict zone with all the consequences that will result in these forces as parties in the conflict.”
Grushko said it is not possible to discuss the publication of unarmed observers to monitor after the end of the conflict until after a peace agreement was reached. French President Emmanuel Macron said, in comments published on Sunday, that the deployment of peacekeepers in Ukraine is a matter of Ukraine, not Russia.
Grushko said that the European allies so that they should understand that the exclusion of Ukraine’s membership in NATO and the exclusion of the possibility of deploying foreign military forces on its territory is only what will be in the interest of the region. He added, “Then the security of Ukraine and the entire region will be guaranteed in the broader sense, as one of the root causes of the conflict will be eliminated.”
Earlier, Moscow said that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio contacted his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, and discussed “concrete aspects of the implementation of the understandings” reached during the American -Russian talks in Saudi Arabia last month. Rubio described the phone call he made with his Russian counterpart as “promising”, in a statement on Sunday morning to the “CBS” channel.
“It is difficult to discuss a permanent end of a war as long as the two parties exchange fire. For this reason, President (Trump) hopes a ceasefire,” the American minister said. On Saturday, Ukrainian President Voludeimir Zellinski accused the Kremlin of unwillingness to end the war, warning that the Russians “want to improve their position in the battlefield” before any potential endowment of fire.
And the Riyadh talks in February between the United States and Russia were the first high -level between the two countries since Russia began its war on Ukraine in February 2022. The US State Department reported on Saturday that Rubio discussed with Lavrov the “following steps” in the discussions. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Lavrov and Rubio “agreed to stay in contact”, without any mention of the ceasefire proposed by the United States.
The announcement of the contact between Rubio and Lavrov, hours after British Prime Minister Kiir Starmer asserted that “the ball is in the Russian stadium” and that Putin will come to the negotiating table on Ukraine “sooner or later.”
Starmer reported 26 leaders and senior officials of allied countries Kiev as they participated in a virtual conversation hosted by Downing Street, on Saturday, that the focus should be focused on strengthening Ukraine, consolidating any ceasefire and continuing to pressure Moscow.
(Reuters, France Press, Al -Arabi Al -Jadeed)
