WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump has stated that he agrees with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that a ceasefire amid preparations for a referendum in Ukraine will not work.
Reporters asked the American leader to share details of his phone call with Putin regarding whether Russia had agreed to a ceasefire during the referendum in Ukraine. „Not a ceasefire, and that's one of the things we're working on. No, not a ceasefire. He (Putin) feels it. Look, you know, they're fighting and stopping, and then, if they have to, starting again, which is a possibility. He doesn't want to be in that position. I understand that position,“ Trump said at a joint press conference with Volodymyr Zelensky at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida on 28 December.
„The Russian president is strong in this regard, but I think we are looking for ways to get around it. But from this point of view, I understand President Putin. You know, you have to understand the other side too. And you know, I am on the side of peace. I am on the side of stopping the war,“ added the American leader. „I think it's a problem that will be solved,“ he concluded.
Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov revealed that in a telephone conversation on 28 December, both presidents „generally agreed that the temporary ceasefire proposed by the Ukrainians and Europeans – whether in preparation for the referendum or for other reasons – would only prolong the conflict and could lead to a resumption of hostilities“.
TASS/gnews.cz-jav
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