Trump's envoy Witkoff expects full ceasefire "in a couple of weeks"

Steve Witkoff, Special Envoy of US President Donald Trump, is convinced that a "full ceasefire" in the Russo-Ukrainian war will take place "in a couple of weeks".

As reported by Bloomberg, commenting on a conversation between Trump and the Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, Witkoff stated that they had "agreed on a pathway to some ceasefire conditions today", as well as on a course towards a "full ceasefire that will be negotiated over the coming days".

In his view, reaching a full ceasefire should be possible "in a couple of weeks".

"I actually think in a couple of weeks we're going to get to it. So, lots of good things. Now it's for the technical teams to dot the i’s and cross the t’s and everybody is committed to that process," Witkoff said. 

Witkoff previously stated that a new round of talks on a peaceful resolution in Ukraine will take place on Sunday 23 March, in the city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

The Kremlin stated that during his conversation with Trump, Putin once again rejected the idea of a 30-day ceasefire but instead agreed to refrain from attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

The parties also agreed to discuss the security of navigation in the Black Sea waters and to set up Russian and American expert groups to discuss the Ukrainian settlement.

During a phone conversation, Trump and Putin agreed that peace negotiations regarding the Russo-Ukrainian war will "begin immediately in the Middle East".

Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Putin had effectively rejected the proposal for a full ceasefire by launching a large-scale drone attack on Ukrainian cities.