(VOVWORLD) -US President Donald Trump will talk by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week, to try to resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict, US Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff said Sunday.
“The two presidents are going to have a really good and positive discussion this week,” Witkoff told CNN, adding that the US also will have further discussions with Ukraine.
On Saturday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio talked by phone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. “The Secretary informed Russia of US military deterrence operations against the Houthis and said continued Houthi attacks on US military and commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea will not be tolerated,” the US State Department said in a statement.
"Secretary Rubio and Foreign Minister Lavrov also discussed steps to follow up on recent meetings in Saudi Arabia and agreed to continue working towards restoring communication between the United States and Russia," the statement said.
The US and Ukraine last week proposed a 30-day ceasefire. Over the weekend President Putin said he “supports in principle” the proposed ceasefire but said there are issues that need to be discussed.