Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on March 17 that it was his hope that U.S. President Donald Trump will get Russian President Vladimir Putin to abandon "some absurd demands" toward establishing a peace deal in Ukraine.
Trump is set to hold a phone call with Putin on March 18 to discuss ending Russia's war against Ukraine.
"(W)e will measure the success of Trump's talks by the quality of the negotiated peace," Sikorski said at an EU foreign ministers summit in Brussels.
Ukraine agreed to a temporary 30-day ceasefire proposed by the U.S. on March 11 following talk in Jeddah, provided Russia also agrees to it. On March 13, Putin said Russia was also willing to accept the ceasefire but demanded guarantees that Ukraine would not mobilize troops, conduct training, or receive military assistance during the truce, making it potentially vulnerable to renewed Russian aggression.
Russia has repeatedly demanded Ukraine hand over the entirety of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson Oblasts despite not fully controlling them.
Russia has also opposed the deployment of peacekeepers to Ukraine in a potential peace deal and insisted Ukraine be demilitarized, neutral, and barred from joining NATO.
"It is clear who wants peace and who wants war. Russia will want to take over all of Ukraine by other means, and preferably militarily neutralize half of Europe while at it. Russia won’t succeed in that... (but that) doesn’t mean Putin won’t try," Sikorski said.
"Putin could finish this war in 5 minutes by just withdrawing," he added.
The U.K. news outlet the Independent reported on March 16, citing senior Ukrainian officials, that Ukraine is ready to negotiate a peace deal with Russia, but remains firm on several areas, including the return of children and civilians, no further ceding of territory, as well as establishing international security guarantees.
Yuliia Taradiuk
