Donald Trump is expected to speak directly with Vladimir Putin this week as the West pushes for a ceasefire deal in Ukraine, a senior US official has said.
US envoy Steve Witkoff, who spoke with Putin in Moscow earlier this week, said he assumes the highly anticipated call between the two leaders will be “really good and positive”.
He told CNN on Sunday: “I expect that there will be a call with both presidents this week, and we're also continuing to engage and have conversation with the Ukrainians.”
Trump is trying to win Putin's support for a 30-day ceasefire proposal that Ukraine accepted last week, as both sides continued trading heavy aerial strikes through the weekend.
Russia also moved closer to ejecting Ukrainian forces from their months-old foothold in the western Russian region of Kursk, while Volodymyr Zelensky warned Russia could be planning a fresh incursion into Ukraine’s Sumy region.
Trump said in a social media post on Friday that there was "a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end."
He also said he had "strongly requested" that Putin not kill the thousands of Ukrainian troops that Russia is pushing out of Kursk.
The Kremlin has so far resisted proposals for an unconditional ceasefire, insisting Ukraine must abandon its attempts to join Nato and cede some of its territory to Russia before any pause in hostilities.
It follows a virtual meeting of world leaders on Saturday, convened by Sir Keir Starmer, to discuss commitments to a "coalition of the willing" that could contribute to a peacekeeping operation in Ukraine.
The Prime Minister announced that planning was now moving into an "operational phase", with military chiefs set to meet in London on Thursday to formulate "robust" plans.
Western security guarantees have been seen as necessary to deterring further Russian aggression in the event of such a deal.
On Sunday, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said the prospects of Vladimir Putin entering serious peace negotiations were "abysmal".
Mr Stubb, who was one of 30 world leaders on Saturday's call, told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: "I don't think Putin doesn't want a ceasefire. Putin doesn't want peace.
"His original aim was basically to destroy the independent sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. Basically to have Ukraine ceasing to exist. He hasn't changed his aim and this is what all of us around the table have to understand."
