17 Mar, 19:49

Kiev’s potential territorial concessions discussed by US, Ukraine — White House

According to Leavitt, Trump and his national security team "have been engaged directly" with Vladimir Zelensky and his team on this matter

WASHINGTON, March 17. /TASS/. The issue of Kiev’s potential territorial concessions was discussed by US and Ukrainian negotiators, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

"That has been part of the discussion between the President's [of the US Donald Trump] team and the Ukrainians as for where those lines will be drawn," she said when asked to comment on President Trump’s statements that the parties to the Ukraine settlement talks are discussing "dividing up assets, dividing up territory."

According to Leavitt, Trump and his national security team "have been engaged directly" with Vladimir Zelensky and his team on this matter.

"I am not going to get into that from this podium. It would be unwise for me to get ahead of the President's call with President [of Russian Vladimir] Putin tomorrow (on Tuesday - TASS)," she said.

"I can assure you, in the effort of transparency, as this President always does, you will hear from him or one of us (US administration officials - TASS) directly after that phone call tomorrow," she added.

On March 11, negotiations took place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, between delegations from the United States and Ukraine. Following these discussions, a joint statement was issued, indicating that Ukraine is willing to accept the US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire. In return, Washington will 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 President Trump for his involvement in the peace negotiations and endorsed the idea of a ceasefire. However, Putin raised several critical questions 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.

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