Trump expects Russia's response on Ukraine ceasefire this week

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

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