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16 Mar, 20:05

Trump ready to discuss rebuilding of bridges with Russia — White House

Trump did not rule out introducing new anti-Russian measures as part of the process of resolving the conflict, Waltz said

NEW YORK, March 16. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump is ready to discuss steps aimed to significantly improve Russia-US relations, US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said on air of the Fox News TV channel.

"We are engaging in diplomacy, and that will involve both carrots and sticks, to get both sides to the table, but to also resolve this [conflict in Ukraine] in a way that is permanent and enduring," he said about Washington's actions aimed at resolving the Ukraine conflict.

Trump did not rule out introducing new anti-Russian measures as part of the process of resolving the conflict, Waltz noted. At the same time, the US leader "has also put a broader and different bilateral relationship with Russia on the table," he added. According to the US national security adviser, this would help the Russian economy to "get back to stability and growth."

On March 14, Trump said that the administration of the 46th US President Joe Biden was to blame for the fact that US-Russian relations deteriorated so badly. He wrote on the Truth Social network that Biden got the US "into a real 'mess' with Russia" and promised to get the US out of this situation. He once again stated that the Ukraine conflict would never have happened if he was president.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier noted that Moscow and Washington needed to "clean up the legacy of the Biden administration," which ruined the foundation of long-lasting cooperation between the two countries.

 

Ceasefire discussions

 

On March 11, negotiations took place in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah between delegations from the United States and Ukraine. Following these discussions, Ukraine decided to accept the US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire. In turn, Washington agreed to immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and resume military assistance to Kiev. The parties also agreed to sign the agreement on Ukrainian minerals as soon as possible.

On March 13, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed gratitude to Trump for his involvement in the peace negotiations and endorsed the idea of a ceasefire. However, the Russian president mentioned several critical issues regarding the status of Ukrainian military personnel who had invaded the Kursk Region, the mechanisms for monitoring the ceasefire, and Ukraine’s potential actions during this period. He stated that Moscow was open to proposals for ending hostilities in Ukraine, provided they paved the way for long-term peace and addressed the root causes of the crisis.