US President Donald Trump said he held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding ending the Ukraine war. Reportedly, Russian negotiators want to meet the US counterparts and discuss the matter.
Trump told the New York Post that he had spoken to Putin but he did not get into the details of the talks. "I hope it's fast. Every day people are dying. This war is so bad in Ukraine. I want to end this damn thing," he said.
Putin "does care" about the deaths on the battlefield. It's been nearly three years since the Russia-Ukraine war began.
Since the invasion began, around 1 million soldiers from the Russian side and 7,00,000 troops from the Ukrainian side have been killed, Trump had said earlier.
"Young handsome soldiers are being killed...on both sides," Trump added.
Trump vowed to end the Ukraine war during his presidential campaign.
He also indicated that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed interest in a negotiated peace deal.
In order to end the war, Putin had said that Ukraine must drop its NATO ambitions and withdraw its troops from the entirety of the territory of four Ukrainian regions claimed and mostly controlled by Russia.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin on Sunday declined to confirm any such talks between Putin and Trump.
"As the administration in Washington unfolds its work, many different communications rise....these are through different channels...Therefore, I can neither confirm nor deny it," said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
The Kremlin had previously said that it is awaiting "signals" on a possible meeting between Trump and Putin.
Meanwhile, Russian troops claimed that it took control of the settlement of Orikhovo-Vasylivka in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region.
