We are one step away from a complete ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. This was stated by the spokeswoman of the US State Department Tammy Bruce, reported The Hill.
She did not reveal more details, nor whether any agreement has been reached between Kiev and Moscow. Her comment was made just days before new negotiations between the US and Russia in Saudi Arabia.
„We are one step away from a complete ceasefire, and then we can start talking not just about peace for a week or six months, but about lasting peace. Peace that the people of Ukraine and Russia and the world can count on. It is [this peace] that encourages America and continues to do every day,“ said the State Department spokeswoman.
The rare earth deal with Kiev will be signed soon, and US efforts to reach a peace agreement to end the war in Ukraine are going “very well“, assured US President Donald Trump today after his talks this week with the Ukrainian and Russian leaders, quoted by Reuters.
Trump made the comment at an event at the White House after signing an executive order to increase US mining of rare earth minerals, BTA reported.
“We are also signing agreements all over the world for mining of rare earth elements and minerals and many other things,“ the US president added.
“Particularly for Ukraine, we are doing very well in terms of negotiations with Kiev and Moscow. And one of the things we're going to do very soon is sign a deal on Ukraine's rare earths," Trump said.
“We'd love to get this all over, and I think things are going “pretty well,” Trump said, referring to his talks with his Ukrainian and Russian counterparts, Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin, to end the war in Ukraine.
“So we're saving thousands of lives a week, which is a great joy. That's what this whole thing is about. They're dying for nothing, and we think we're going to get something done. We'll see what happens, but I think we'll make it," Trump added.
Ukraine and the United States announced this month that they had agreed to finalize, as soon as possible, a comprehensive agreement on the development of Kiev's rare earth elements, which Trump sees as a means to offset the costs of the United States in providing aid to Ukraine.