The US special envoy has also said that sanctions on Russia will likely be eased once a ceasefire agreement is secured
A complete ceasefire in the Ukraine conflict will likely be implemented within “a couple of weeks,” US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, has stated. He also said that sanctions imposed by Washington on Moscow could be relaxed once they reach such an agreement.
Commenting on the phone call on Tuesday between Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, Witkoff hailed the conversation as “epic” and “transformational.”
“President Trump and President Putin were in sync with one another, the call was outcome-oriented,” the official said.
He confirmed that the two leaders agreed on a “cessation of attacks on energy infrastructure, from both [Russia and Ukraine], and civilian infrastructure for that matter.” Trump and Putin also undertook to work “toward a Black Sea moratorium on hits on naval vessels and freighters carrying grain and things of that sort.”
Witkoff expressed hope that these initial steps would “evolve into a full-on ceasefire, which is a bit more complicated because there is a 2,000-kilometer border, there’s [Russia’s] Kursk [Region], and there’s a lot of details that go into that.”
Commenting on the Russian Defense Ministry’s report that its air defenses had shot down their own drones headed for Ukrainian energy infrastructure after receiving an order to halt such attacks overnight, Trump’s special envoy told Bloomberg TV, “I tend to believe that President Putin is operating in good faith.”
According to Witkoff, more progress was made on March 18 than in the “last three and a half years,” with important “trust-building” steps being taken now.
President Trump and President Putin “went into how you would put the finishing touches on a full-on ceasefire,” with technical teams expected to meet in Saudi Arabia beginning next Monday or Tuesday, the White House envoy revealed.
“I actually think in a couple of weeks, we’re gonna get to [a ceasefire],” Witkoff told the outlet.
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