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Trump, Putin Expected to Speak This Week About Ukraine Cease-Fire Push, White House Envoy Says

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President Trump is likely to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone this week as the U.S. push to end the Russia-Ukraine war accelerates, U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said Sunday.

Mr. Witkoff, who met with Mr. Putin in Moscow last week, told CNN’s “State of the Union” that the U.S. is in communication with all sides, including Russia, Ukraine and other European powers, about a potential cease-fire deal.

Mr. Witkoff said the U.S. and Russia have gotten closer in their positions in recent days, despite Mr. Putin’s reluctance to embrace the 30-day cease-fire agreed to by the U.S. and Ukraine after high-level delegations from those two nations met in Saudi Arabia last week.

“The two sides are today a lot closer,” Mr. Witkoff said, referring to the U.S. and Russia. “The two sides, we’ve narrowed the differences between them and now we’re sitting at the table.”

“I think President Trump is involved in every aspect and dimension of these discussions,” he said. “The president is getting updates in real time on everything that’s happening and he’s involved in every important decision here.” (Read more from “Trump, Putin Expected to Speak This Week About Ukraine Cease-Fire Push, White House Envoy Says” HERE)

Trump: Putin’s Statement About Potential Ceasefire ‘Very Promising’

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President Donald Trump said Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s openness to a ceasefire proposal being negotiated by the United States is “very promising.”

Trump’s comments came while taking questions in the Oval Office during a meeting with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Mark Rutte.

“He put out a very promising statement, but it wasn’t complete, and, yeah, I’d love to meet with him or talk to him,” Trump said of the Russian leader. “But we have to get it over with fast. You know, every day, people are being killed.”

Putin’s comments about being open to a ceasefire came during a press conference in Moscow, as Breitbart News noted:

“So the idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it,” Putin told a news conference in Moscow, AP set out. “But there are issues that we need to discuss, and I think that we need to discuss it with our American colleagues and partners.”

The Russian leader noted the need to develop a mechanism to control possible breaches of the truce. Another issue, he said, is whether Ukraine could use the 30-day ceasefire to continue mobilization and rearmament.

“We agree with the proposals to halt the fighting, but we proceed from the assumption that the ceasefire should lead to lasting peace and remove the root causes of the crisis,” Putin said.

(Read more from “Trump: Putin’s Statement About Potential Ceasefire ‘Very Promising’” HERE)

Zelensky Fumes Over Trump’s Push for Russia Talks Before Ukraine

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has sparked controversy with his recent comments, claiming it would be “more dangerous” for President Donald Trump to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin before addressing Ukraine’s concerns. This remark raises eyebrows and reflects growing tension as Zelensky navigates his relationship with both U.S. political parties while trying to secure continued support in the war against Russia.

Zelensky, likely frustrated by the end of his close relationship with former President Joe Biden, is now lecturing Trump—who brought hostages home from Gaza, ended a war, and was the first president to avoid new conflicts—on how to handle peace negotiations.

The Ukrainian President expressed frustration to reporters upon learning he would be excluded from the peace talks with Russia, calling it “dangerous” and stating he was unhappy with the decision.

“I think that more dangerous if first meeting will be with Putin and then with Ukraine. There are things I shared with the President Trump that, first of all, we have to see common view,” he said. “I said also that at the table, we need Europe also. It’s very important for us. We are in Europe, and we see our future only in EU, like a member.” (Read more from “Zelensky Fumes Over Trump’s Push for Russia Talks Before Ukraine” HERE)

Zelensky: ‘We Believe That Putin Will Wage War Against NATO’

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Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that his country has intelligence that Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to “wage war” against NATO countries. . .

Zelensky added, “That is why I told you that, ‘What is he waiting for?’ For a weakening of NATO by, for instance, policy of the United States of America, for example, that the United States of America will think to take its military from Europe. Yes, Putin thinks of that. But I will believe that the United States will not take its forces, its contingents from Europe because that will severely weaken NATO and the European continent. Putin definitely counts on that. And the fact that we receive information that he will think of the invasion against former Soviet republics. And forgive me, but today these are NATO countries.” (Read more from “Zelensky: ‘We Believe That Putin Will Wage War Against NATO’” HERE)

Trump Talks With Ukraine President Zelenksyy Following Putin Call

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President Trump spoke by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Wednesday, the White House said, after talking earlier to Russian President Vladimir Putin about ending their long-running war.

In a Truth Social post, Mr. Trump said the conversation with Mr. Zelenskyy went “very well.”

“He, like President Putin, wants to make PEACE,” Mr. Trump wrote. “We discussed a variety of topics having to do with the War, but mostly, the meeting that is being set up on Friday in Munich, where Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead the Delegation.”

He said he is “hopeful” that the Friday meeting will be “positive.”

“It is time to stop this ridiculous war, where there has been massive, and totally unnecessary, DEATH and DESTRUCTION,” he wrote. “God bless the people of Russia and Ukraine!” (Read more from “Trump Talks With Ukraine President Zelenksyy Following Putin Call” HERE)

Trump Promises In-Person Meeting With Putin as Ukraine Talks Get Underway

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An American president hasn’t visited Russia in more than a decade. That could change soon, according to President Donald Trump, who said Wednesday that he and Russian President Vladimir had agreed to visit “each other’s Nations” as part of an effort to end the war in Ukraine.

Trump promoted the potential trips in a social media post detailing his phone call Wednesday with Putin. It was the first announced conversation between the two leaders since Trump started his second term in office.

“We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other’s Nations,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump added later in the day Wednesday that he would likely hold his first meeting with Putin since taking office for a second time in Saudi Arabia, though plans had not been settled.

A meeting anywhere in the world between the two leaders would garner headlines — but it would be especially unusual if one took place in the U.S. or Russia. Regardless of the location, analysts said suggestions of a face-to-face meeting are in line with Trump’s practice, in his first term in office, of holding high-profile summits with adversaries like North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. (Read more from “Trump Promises In-Person Meeting With Putin as Ukraine Talks Get Underway” HERE)

Trump Reveals He’s Spoken With Putin by Phone, Says Russian President ‘Wants to See People Stop Dying’ in Ukraine War

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President Trump has spoken to Russian leader Vladimir Putin on the phone to try to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war, he told The Post in an exclusive interview aboard Air Force One Friday.

“I’d better not say,” said Trump when asked how many times the two leaders have spoken.

But he believes Putin “does care” about the killing on the battlefield.

“He wants to see people stop dying,” said Trump.

“All those dead people. Young, young, beautiful people. They’re like your kids, two million of them – and for no reason.”

The three-year-old war “never would have happened” if he had been president in 2022, Trump asserted. (Read more from “Trump Reveals He’s Spoken With Putin by Phone, Says Russian President ‘Wants to See People Stop Dying’ in Ukraine War” HERE)

Tucker Carlson Makes Bombshell Claim About U.S. Attempt to Kill Putin

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The United States attempted to assassinate Vladimir Putin during Joe Biden’s presidency, according to a shocking claim by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

Political commentator Carlson, who last year travelled to Moscow for a lengthy sit-down interview with the Russian President – dropped the bombshell allegation during an episode of ‘The Tucker Carlson Show’ with US journalist Matt Taibbi.

‘[Ex-US Secretary of State] Tony Blinken was pushing so hard for a real war, trying to kill Putin, for example – which the Biden administration did, they tried to kill Putin.

‘Yes. Yes, they did. Which is insane,’ Carlson said in his most recent episode, hosted on social media platform X.

Without providing evidence for his claim, Carlson went on to imagine a scenario in which the US was successful.

‘If like [Putin was assassinated]… okay, so who takes over Russia?

(Read more from “Tucker Carlson Makes Bombshell Claim About U.S. Attempt to Kill Putin” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Putin Claims He Has Not Spoken to Trump in Years, Contradicting Woodward Report

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Russian President Vladimir Putin claims to have not spoken to President-elect Donald Trump in four years, which would appear to contradict a book by reporter Bob Woodward that claimed the two world leaders spoke several times after Trump left office.

Putin issued his claim during a lengthy news conference on Thursday in which he spoke about Russia’s mission in Syria and its war in Ukraine.

“You asked what we can offer, or what I can offer to the newly elected President Trump when we meet,” Putin said in response to a question from NBC’s Keir Simmons. “First of all, I don’t know when we will meet. Because he hasn’t said anything about it. I haven’t spoken to him at all in over four years. Of course, I am ready for this at any time, and I will be ready for a meeting if he wants it.”

If Putin’s admission of not speaking to Trump in four years turns out true, it would heavily contradict explosive claims by reporter Bob Woodward, who charged that the president-elect secretly sent coronavirus tests to Putin and that he regularly kept in contact with the Russian president after leaving office. As the AFP reported at the time:

Then-president Donald Trump secretly sent Covid test kits to Vladimir Putin despite a US shortage during the pandemic, and spoke multiple times with the Russian leader after leaving office, Bob Woodward says in an explosive new book.

The famed reporter’s opus also chronicles some of President Joe Biden’s own acknowledged missteps and his struggle to prevent escalation of conflict in the Middle East, including exasperation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over futile efforts to get Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire.

(Read more from “Putin Claims He Has Not Spoken to Trump in Years, Contradicting Woodward Report” HERE)

Report: U.S. and European Officials Discussed Giving Ukraine Nuclear Weapons

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By Anti War. According to the New York Times, US and European officials have discussed a range of options they believe will deter Russia from taking more Ukrainian territory, including providing Kiev with nuclear weapons. The outlet reports that Western officials believe the Kremlin will not significantly escalate the war before Donald Trump is sworn in as President in January.

Following the election of Trump earlier this month, the US and its NATO allies began taking steps to rush weapons to Ukraine and give Kiev the ability to strike targets inside Russian territory with long-range weapons.

American officials who were briefed on the intelligence community’s assessments told the Times that weapons will not alter the challenging situation that Kiev is currently facing. “US spy agencies have assessed that speeding up the provisions of weapons, ammunition and matériel for Ukraine will do little to change the course of the war in the short term,” the Times reports.

Desperate to bolster Ukraine’s standing in the war before the transition of power on January 20, the Biden administration is looking at a range of serious escalations. “US and European officials are discussing deterrence as a possible security guarantee for Ukraine, such as stockpiling a conventional arsenal sufficient to strike a punishing blow if Russia violates a cease-fire.” The article continues, “Several officials even suggested that Mr. Biden could return nuclear weapons to Ukraine that were taken from it after the fall of the Soviet Union.” (Read more from “Report: U.S. and European Officials Discussed Giving Ukraine Nuclear Weapons” HERE)

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NATO Considers Preemptive Strikes Amid Rising Tensions With Russia

By MSN News. NATO Military Committee Chairman Admiral Rob Bauer stated during a conference in Brussels that NATO leadership is contemplating the possibility of conducting precise preemptive strikes on Russian territory in the event of an armed conflict between Moscow and the Alliance.

He added that the North Atlantic Alliance must replenish its weapons stockpiles, modernise air defence systems, and precision strike systems.

Earlier, Bauer stated that the management of major Western companies should be prepared for wartime conditions and adjust their production and distribution lines accordingly to become less vulnerable to blackmail from Russia and China.

At present, the Russians do not pose the same threat as they did in February 2022, so we have some time to prepare, said Rob Bauer in Brussels, referring to the state of military equipment and the level of soldier training. He added that for the West, this means the necessity of increasing investments in the arms industry.

In his opinion, deterring the opponent involves not only military capabilities, but also the use of all available tools in wartime conditions. (Read more from “NATO Considers Preemptive Strikes Amid Rising Tensions With Russia” HERE)

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