Russia may be deliberately dragging out ceasefire talks in Ukraine and avoiding an agreement, US President Donald Trump has said. “I think Russia wants to put an end to it, but they may be stalling. I've done that for years [in business]: I don't want to sign an agreement, I want to kind of stay in the game, but maybe I don't want to do that,” Trump said. 

At the same time, the White House chief promised that Washington would consider Moscow's demands for a ceasefire in the Black Sea, which were announced following talks in Saudi Arabia on March 23-25. “We are now considering all of them. It's about five or six conditions. We are considering all of them,” Trump noted. In particular, the Russian side demanded that sanctions be lifted from Rosselkhozbank and other banks involved in the export of food and fertilizers, as well as from producers and exporters of agricultural products and Russian-flagged ships that transport the relevant cargoes.

The U.S. has proposed to start a settlement of the military conflict in Ukraine with a 30-day ceasefire. “It's hard to agree on a long-term cessation of war while they're shooting at each other,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained. Russian President Vladimir Putin supported the initiative, but pointed out that there are “nuances.” According to him, the problem is control over compliance with future agreements and the continuation of military supplies to Kyiv.