Moscow, April 18 (IANS) Hours after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held a telephonic conversation with the United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US President Donald Trump said that he expects to get Russia’s response on a possible ceasefire in Ukraine over the weekend.
“We’re going to be hearing from them this week, very shortly, actually. I think we’re getting close, but we’ll let you know very soon,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that Lavrov reaffirmed Moscow’s readiness to continue collaborative efforts with American counterparts to comprehensively address the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis.
Secretary Rubio, who was in Paris, informed the Russian side about the recent engagements that he and US President’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff had in the French capital.
“These discussions involved representatives from Ukraine, France, and several other European nations. It was underscored that these contacts were in alignment with the framework of ongoing consultations between Washington and Moscow, including the recent dialogue between President of Russia Vladimir Putin and Steve Witkoff in Saint Petersburg,” read the statement.
Meanwhile, Russia’s envoy to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said that a ceasefire in Ukraine is “unrealistic” at this point, as Kyiv fails to honour the moratorium on striking energy infrastructure.
“We had an attempt at a limited ceasefire concerning energy infrastructure, which was not observed by the Ukrainian side. Under these circumstances, it is simply unrealistic to talk about a ceasefire at this point,” he told reporters.
On March 18, President Trump put forward a proposal for the sides of the conflict to refrain from strikes on energy infrastructure for 30 days. Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed and immediately gave the Russian military the appropriate command. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later said Ukraine would also support the proposal.
However, Ukraine attacked Russian energy sites from March 18 to April 16 in 15 regions, including Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Zaporozhye, Kursk, Lipetsk, Rostov, Saratov, Smolensk, Tambov, Krasnodar, Kherson regions, Crimea, and the Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics. The strikes were carried out with drones and various artillery capabilities, including the HIMARS.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Kyiv has not observed the moratorium, and attempts to attack the Russian energy sector continue, Russian state-run news agency TASS reported on Friday.
–IANS
int/scor/as
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by BhaskarLive.in and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of BhaskarLive.in We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, BhaskarLive.in takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
