"Let's hope we can get a truce. Now Russia decides. We have people going to Russia now," said Donald Trump during a gathering at the Oval Office. The U.S. president warned early Putin that he would impose "destructive" sanctions on Russia if Moscow decided to proceed the war.
Politicians from Putin's surroundings in the Kremlin, with whom the journalists of The Moscow Times talked, believe Moscow is counting on a good deal with Trump, but Russia must accomplish its military goals first. According to the Reuter Agency, the Russians have already presented to the Americans their list of demands.
According to the sources of The Moscow Times, Moscow should not be besides hasty about organizing Vladimir Putin's gathering with Donald Trump.
Present and retired Russian officials acquainted with the discussions told The Moscow Times that various Trump-Putin gathering dates are being considered in the Kremlin. The scope of possible dates from the end of April (around Easter) until the beginning of June (before the holiday) is taken into account.
Since his telephone conversation with Putin Trump, he has said in public respective times that he wants to organise a gathering "as shortly as possible". However, the Kremlin chose a cautious position without giving a circumstantial schedule.
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— There is definitely a request for specified a gathering to be held reasonably quickly,” said Putin's spokesperson Dmitri Pieskov on 13 February, but later explained that “there are nuances” to be explained.
Russian diplomats in private talks with The Moscow Times in February named Trump's proposed agenda "unrealistic", describing his statements as "the characteristic rhetoric of Trump". In their opinion, the Americans want an agreement on Ukraine at all costs to halt the war.
According to the Russians, however, Moscow must first accomplish military successes — reflection of Ukrainian-occupied Kurdish territory and the gradual expansion of the occupied regions Ukraine until their administrative borders.
An older retired Russian diplomat in an interview with The Moscow Times said:
In any case, the Americans are not our friends and will search to weaken Russia. This must be tackled by force. The more territories we take, the stronger our position will be and the more favored Kiev will be.
“Army control and strategical stableness are not of interest to Trump, while this is crucial to us,” said the Russian diplomat in an interview with The Moscow Times.
View of the Kremlin in Moscow (picture)Frédéric Soltan/Corbis via Getty Images / Getty Images
“The borders of Ukraine do not substance much to them. The American president wants to show that he is the main advocate of peace and accomplished what no 1 had been able to do in front of him, adding a close call from The Moscow Times to the Kremlin.
Reuter Agency: Russian list of demands against Americans
Russian and American officials have discussed terms during individual and virtual talks over the past 3 weeks. According to the Reuters Agency, according to 2 people acquainted with the peace negotiations, Russia presented to the United States a list of requests for an agreement to end the war with Ukraine and reset relations with Washington.
Russian demands would include conditions already set by the Kremlinsuch as Kiev's deficiency of NATO membership and the deficiency of abroad troops in Ukraine. The administration of erstwhile U.S. president Joe Biden has already discussed these demands before the invasion of Ukraine.
According to the Reuter Agency, it is not known whether Putin will seriously engage in peace talks and what Moscow included on its list.
