Trump hopeful of Russia-Ukraine deal this week

Washington, April 21 (IANS) There is a 'very good chance' of Russia and Ukraine reaching a deal this week, US President Donald Trump said expressing optimism even as Russian President Vladimir Putin's "Easter Truce" expired, with both Russia and Ukraine accusing each other of violating it.

The US President reiterated the hope of a deal this week at an Easter Event at the White House on Monday, echoing his post on Truth Social on Sunday: "Hopefully Russia and Ukraine will make a deal this week. Both will then start to do big business with the United States of America, which is thriving, and make a fortune."

These posts came after President Putin announced he had ordered his troops to stop all military activity along the frontline for 30 hours from 6 p.m. on Saturday until midnight on Sunday.

On Sunday evening, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of "failing" to "uphold its own promise of ceasefire".

"Either Putin does not have full control over his Army, or the situation proves that in Russia, they have no intention of making a genuine move toward ending the war, and are only interested in favourable PR coverage," he wrote on X.

"We are ready to move toward peace and a full, unconditional, and honest ceasefire that could last for at least 30 days -- but there has been no response from Russia on that so far," Zelensky added.

Ukraine reported blasts in the eastern city of Mykolaiv.

While expressing optimism of a deal, the US President and his aides, notably Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have said the US is prepared to stop mediating a peace between the two countries and move one if an agreement is not doable.

"Quickly, we want to get it done," Trump told reporters last week.

"Now if for some reason one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we're just going to say, 'you're foolish, you're fools, you're horrible people, and we're going to just take a pass. But hopefully we won't have to do that."

Russia has so far refused a full ceasefire proposed by the US and backed by Ukraine. Moscow has insisted that Kyiv must end its military mobilisation and stop receiving weapons from the West—terms Ukraine flatly rejects.

--IANS

yrj/khz