US President Donald Trump said that efforts to limit the further escalation of the war between Russia and Ukraine are "under control". The American leader announced this in an interview with Outkick, Bloomberg reports, quoted by FOKUS.
He stressed that his "good" relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are key to negotiations to end the fighting.
"It would be great if we could stop it. I'll tell you this, no one else could. No one. Zero," Trump said.
During the March 18 phone call, Putin said he was willing to limit attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure as a first step, but did not agree to a full ceasefire, which the United States has been pushing for. The next day, during a call with Trump, Zelensky also agreed to a mutual cessation of attacks on energy facilities.
Trump notes that he knows Putin "very well".
"Putin has not invaded anywhere when I was president. He took Crimea and he took Georgia when Bush was president, when Obama was president, and he's trying to take everything... I don't think there's anyone in the world who can stop him but me, and I think, I hope I can stop him," Trump said.
The publication recalls that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that on March 24 meetings of delegations from the United States, Ukraine and Russia would be held in Saudi Arabia:
"As far as I understand, the structure is such that there will be a meeting of Ukraine with America, and then America with Russia. Or will there be parallel such meetings in one country on one topic.“
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry noted that the new meeting with the Americans will not be political, but technical.
"This is a meeting to determine the parameters of the proposals for the various ceasefire options that are on the negotiating table today.
The Czech Republic is ready to participate in a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine if a peace agreement is reached, Czech President Petr Pavel said in an interview with the Ukrainian newspaper "Europa Pravda", BTA reported.
Commenting on the issue of security guarantees for Ukraine in the interview with the Ukrainian publication, Pavel mentioned the so-called "coalition of the willing" and said that the Czech Republic is already part of this coalition, the Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform notes.
Pavel expressed his confidence that when collective readiness is achieved to send a peacekeeping contingent, the Czech Republic will be part of it.
Regarding the skepticism in the Czech Republic regarding the deployment of peacekeeping troops in Ukraine, the president said that it is possible that there are different opinions on this issue among Czech politicians.
The Czech leader emphasized that there is a strong group of European countries that want to provide security guarantees to Ukraine.