Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on February 5 that contacts between the two sides have taken place and are being strengthened in recent days. However, Mr. Peskov refused to disclose further details, emphasizing the sensitivity of these negotiations.
In that context, Mr. Peskov also rejected the call for a direct dialogue from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Russian President Vladimir Putin, considering these as just formal statements.
Mr. Peskov argued that the readiness to negotiate should be based on a solid basis, not from the executive decree issued by Mr. Zelensky in 2022, which prohibits negotiations with Russia.
On the US side, Mr. Trump confirmed that the US is participating in "constructive" discussions with both Russia and Ukraine. “We are having very good negotiations with both Russia and Ukrainian leaders,” he said. This is a complicated problem, but I believe we will find a solution in the near future."
When asked if there was a direct phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Mr. Trump refused to respond.
Previously, President Putin expressed his readiness to meet US leaders to discuss the war in Ukraine and other issues that the two countries are interested in. These signals raised hopes for the possibility of finding a way out of the conflict that caused heavy losses to both sides.
During his election campaign, Mr. Trump said he could end the war in Ukraine quickly, but also admitted that the process could last several months. His team is expected to announce a detailed plan to end the conflict at the Munich Security Conference held from February 14-16, in Bavaria, Germany.
According to Mr. Trump's close associates, the strategy is called “peaceful through strength,” with the main proposals including freezing the conflict to maintain the current state of territory, while providing security to Ukraine to prevent future attacks from Russia. His team also stressed that both Russia and Ukraine need to make certain concessions to reach a peace agreement.
Although the results of the negotiations remain unclear, positive moves from both sides are raising hopes for a diplomatic solution for this prolonged crisis.
