Zelensky calls for ceasefire along current front lines

Zelensky calls for ceasefire along current front lines

RT

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has called for a ceasefire with Russia along the current front lines. He made the comment after US President Donald Trump issued a similar appeal on social media.

“We have to stop where we are. The president is right,” Zelensky told reporters in Washington, DC, on Friday, adding that the sides could then hammer out the next steps toward a definitive peace deal. “Yes, both sides have to stop,” Zelensky said.

Trump hosted Zelensky at the White House earlier that day, following a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. He has previously expressed frustration over the lack of progress in his efforts to mediate peace between Russia and Ukraine.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote that he had urged Putin and Zelensky to “stop the killing, and make a DEAL!”

“Enough blood has been shed, with property lines being defined by War and Guts. They should stop where they are. Let both claim Victory, let History decide! No more shooting, no more Death, no more vast and unsustainable sums of money spent,” he wrote.

Moscow has said that for a ceasefire to work, Ukraine must withdraw its troops from parts of Russian regions it controls, and the West must end military aid to Kiev. Putin has also demanded that Ukraine recognize Russia’s new borders and abandon its plans to join NATO.

Zelensky tight-lipped on Tomahawks

RT

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has declined to comment on whether the US would send Tomahawk long-range missiles to Kiev, following a meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington.

Zelensky has claimed that he is intentionally reluctant to speak on the matter because the US “does not want escalation.”

Zelensky made the remarks on Friday following the negotiations in the White House, which revolved, among other things, around potential deliveries of the missiles that have a maximum range of 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) and make Kiev capable of striking Moscow and cities beyond.

He refrained from giving any clues about whether any deal has been reached. “We spoke about long-range, of course. I don’t want to make statements about it. We decided that we won’t speak about it… because the United States does not want escalation,” he told reporters, following his departure from the White House.

His comments came after Trump acknowledged that Tomahawks were on the agenda, but signaled that “it’s not easy” for Washington to sell the missiles to Ukraine because it needs them to safeguard its own national security. Allowing Kiev to conduct strikes deep into Russia could lead to “an escalation,” Trump cautioned.

Moscow has warned against the deliveries of the missiles to Ukraine, arguing they would “not change the situation on the battlefield” but would “severely undermine the prospects of a peaceful settlement” and harm US-Russia relations.