President Donald Trump has confirmed he will speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin tomorrow about the possibility of conceding land to Ukraine.
“I’ll be speaking to [President Putin] on Tuesday. A lot of work’s been done over the weekend,” Trump revealed.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One while returning to Washington D.C. from Mar-a-Lago in Florida on Sunday, Trump stated, “We want to see if we can bring that war to an end. Maybe we can, maybe we can’t, but I think we have a very good chance.”
Trump added that he plans to discuss land and power plants with Putin as part of potential concessions.
“I think we have a lot of it already discussed very much by both sides, Ukraine and Russia,” Trump said. “We are already talking about that… dividing up certain assets.”
Over the weekend, Trump made bold predictions regarding the Ukraine ceasefire deal. During a pre-taped interview for the weekly news program Full Measure, he was asked what his plans would be if Putin does not agree to a ceasefire.
“Bad news for this world because so many people are dying,” Trump responded. However, he expressed confidence that Putin would agree to the deal. “I think he’s going to agree. I really do. I think I know him pretty well, and I think he’s going to agree,” Trump told anchor Sharyl Attkisson.
Trump did not confirm whether he had spoken with Putin recently, but mentioned, “We are dealing with him.”
The conversation comes after Trump administration special envoy Steve Witkoff held a private meeting with Putin last Thursday, as the U.S. pushes for a ceasefire deal. “It was positive. It was a solution-based discussion,” Witkoff told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday. He added that he expects a call between Trump and Putin “this week.”
Trump mentioned in the interview that efforts to secure Russia’s agreement to the ceasefire deal with Ukraine were progressing “OK” and they expected to have more information by Monday.
When asked about his earlier statement that he could settle the war in 24 hours, Trump clarified, “Well, I was being a little bit sarcastic when I said that. What I really mean is I would like to get it settled.” He remained optimistic, predicting he would be “successful.”
Putin expressed support for a ceasefire on Thursday but outlined conditions that would need to be negotiated before a deal could be finalized.
