Trump Says Russians Could Be ‘Dragging Their Feet’ on Ceasefire

US President Donald Trump admitted that Russia may be delaying the signing of a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine, though he did not confirm it outright.

With Trump pushing for a rapid end to the war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people, White House negotiators shuttled separately over three days in the Saudi capital Riyadh between delegations from Ukraine and Russia.

“I don’t know. I mean, I’ll let you know at a certain point. But I think that Russia wants to see an end to it, but it could be they’re dragging their feet,” Trump said in an interview with Newsmax’s Greg Kelly.

“I’ve done it over the years, you know; I don’t want to sign a contract, I want to sort of stay in the game, but maybe I don’t want to do it quite… I’m not sure. But no, I think Russia would like to see it end, and I think Zelensky would like to see it end at this point.”

Earlier this month, days after President Volodymyr Zelensky’s dressing-down by Trump in the Oval Office, Kyiv agreed to a US-proposed unconditional ceasefire. However, Moscow rejected the offer. Ukraine and its European allies have accused Russia of avoiding peace efforts.

A week later, on March 18, after Trump and Putin spoke, Russia agreed to stop striking energy facilities.

The Kremlin and Russia’s Defense Ministry said a temporary halt on attacks against energy facilities had been in place since March 18, when Trump and Putin reached an agreement. However, the drone assaults in Ukraine have even intensified since then, with dozens of UAVs targeting residential areas and killing civilians across the country.

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Turkish Fishing Vessel Sunk After Apparent Black Sea Attack, One Dead

A Turkish-flagged fishing vessel, the Duru 67, was attacked and sunk in the northern Black Sea on Friday, June 5. The Turkish Coast Guard confirmed that the vessel came under fire west of Russian-occupied Sevastopol, resulting in the death of one crew member and wounding four others. Surviving mariners were rescued from the sinking trawler by another fishing vessel, which was subsequently met by a coast guard cutter equipped with a medical team.

Zelensky stated that the ceasefire on energy strikes began only on March 25, following the Riyadh negotiations marathon that lasted for two days, from March 23 to March 25. During these days, Trump team officials held talks with Russian and Ukrainian representatives. Trump’s delegation met separately with each side.

Afterwards, in parallel statements, the White House said that Washington, Kyiv, and Moscow had agreed to ensure safe navigation and avoid using force in the Black Sea.

However, the Kremlin later outlined that Moscow would only agree to safe navigation in the Black Sea if sanctions were partially relieved. In particular, they demand sanctions to be lifted on:

• Rosselkhozbank and other financial institutions involved in food and fertilizer trade, including their reconnection to SWIFT and reopening of correspondent accounts.
• Trade finance transactions related to agricultural exports.
• Russian food and fertilizer exporters, including lifting restrictions on insurance coverage for food shipments.
• Russian-flagged vessels involved in food and fertilizer trade, ensuring they can dock at international ports.
• Agricultural machinery and other critical goods used in food and fertilizer production.

A similar reference to US assistance for Russian agricultural exports appeared in the White House’s statement after the talks.

The White House stated that Washington would help “restore Russia’s access to the world market for agricultural and fertilizer exports” while working to reduce maritime insurance costs, and enhance access to ports and payment systems for such transactions.