President Trump: Russia has the advantage while surrounding 2,500 Ukrainian soldiers
President Trump called his conversation with the Russian leader “fantastic,” and said Russia had a lot of leverage in surrounding Ukrainian troops.
According to TASS on March 19, in an interview with Fox News commenting on a phone call with his counterpart Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump said that Russia has the advantage because the Russian Armed Forces have surrounded about 2,500 Ukrainian soldiers.
"I think we had a great conversation, almost two hours. We talked about a lot of things and looking for peace. Russia has the advantage, as you know, they have surrounded about 2,500 Ukrainian soldiers," President Donald Trump said.
US Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff said on March 19 that Washington hopes Ukraine will support the agreements reached during the recent phone call between the US and Russian leaders.
Mr. Witkoff told Fox News, referring to previous ceasefire agreements, that he really hoped Ukraine would agree.
In addition, special envoy Witkoff said that starting Sunday (March 23) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, delegations from the US and Russia will begin working on the details, and then move towards a complete ceasefire.
He noted that the sides agreed on two main aspects: stopping attacks on each other's energy facilities, as well as in the Black Sea.
“Until recently, we didn’t have an agreement on these issues. Now we have an agreement, and I think that between now and the complete ceasefire, it will be relatively close,” Witkoff believes.
Earlier, the White House said that leaders Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin agreed in a phone call to "immediately" begin technical talks in the Middle East to establish "a ceasefire in the Black Sea, a complete ceasefire and lasting peace".
The Kremlin stressed that an important condition for resolving the conflict is "a complete cessation of foreign military aid and intelligence supplies to Kiev".