US Presidential Envoy Donald Trump's Steve Witkoff stated in an interview with Fox News that the discussion of a peace agreement is progressing. «This week I am meeting with the Ukrainians. I will be meeting with them this week in New York, and this is an important signal. We communicate with the Russians every day», — said Trump's envoy.
At the same time, he expressed confidence that the meeting between Vladimir Zelensky and Vladimir Putin will take place.
Earlier, Reuters reported that during peace talks, Russian and US officials discussed several energy agreements. Thus, Moscow was encouraged to stop the war in Ukraine, and Washington — to ease sanctions.
Among the issues raised — the possibility of Exxon Mobil returning to the Russian oil and gas project «Sakhalin-1», as well as the possibility of Russia purchasing American equipment for LNG production projects like Arctic LNG 2, which is under Western sanctions.
The day before, Donald Trump stated that the US would start an «economic war» against Russia if it avoids negotiations to end the war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.
«This will not be a world war, but it will be an economic war. And the economic war will be tough, very tough — especially for Russia. And I don't want that», — Trump replied to journalists' questions about the consequences for Russia from refusing to negotiate an end to the war.
At the same time, he once again placed responsibility for sabotaging the peace agreement not only on Putin but also on Zelensky.
«I think, in many ways, Putin is ready, but sometimes he is ready, and Zelensky is not. It looks something like: „And who is ready to sit at the table today?“ I need to gather both at the same time, and I want all this to end», — Trump stated, adding once again that «it takes two to tango», and Zelensky is «not entirely innocent either».