US President Donald Trump, in a post on the social network Truth, expressed hope that Ukraine and Russia will conclude an agreement next week.
He also added that after that, both countries will “start doing big business with the US, which is prosperous, and make a fortune.”
Earlier, on 18 April, before leaving Paris, where talks involving Ukraine, the US, France, Britain and Germany were held, Rubio said that the US expects the outcome of negotiations to end Russia’s war in Ukraine “in the coming days, not weeks” and if that does not happen, it will be forced to focus on other priorities.
US President Donald Trump has previously said he expects to hear Russia’s position on the ceasefire by the end of the week.
The Kremlin has since said that “certain progress” has been made in talks on a possible peace settlement to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.On 19 April, the Kremlin released a statement by Vladimir Putin announcing an “Easter truce”. According to him, the Russian side “stops all hostilities from 18:00 on 19 April to 00:00 on 21 April”. At the same time, Putin added, Russian troops should be ready to repel “possible violations of the truce”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the morning of 20 April that the Russian military was not respecting the 30-hour ceasefire declared by Russian leader Vladimir Putin on the afternoon of 19 April.
The Russian Defence Ministry said on 20 April that the AFU had attempted attacks in the areas of Sukhoy Balka and Bogatyr in Donetsk Region.