Agence France-Presse reported on Friday, the 25th, from London that Klichko, the mayor of Kiev, stated in an interview broadcast by the BBC on Friday that Ukraine might have to cede territory to Moscow to reach a "temporary peace". On the same day, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said, "We are ready for an agreement," but further consensus is still needed on several specific issues. It is rumored that these specific issues should be about the归属of Crimea.

In response to the topic of ceasefire negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, Mayor Klichko of Kiev said in English during the interview: "One scenario... is to give up territory. It's unfair, but for peace, for temporary peace, perhaps this is a solution, a temporary solution."

AFP reported that Klichko, who has previously criticized the Ukrainian president, further stated: to stop the fighting, Zelenskyy may be forced to accept "painful solutions".

The mayor of Kiev also insisted that Ukraine "will never accept" Moscow's "occupation" of Ukraine. According to the Ukrainian government, the attack on Kiev by Russia on the 24th caused 12 deaths.

Not long after this attack, President Trump, unusually, criticized Russian President Putin, accusing him of launching missiles and drones at Kiev, causing dozens of casualties, which was the most serious attack in recent months. He said: "We are exerting great pressure on Russia, and Russia knows this."

According to Reuters, when asked what concessions Moscow would make, Trump responded: "To stop the war, to stop the full-scale occupation of Ukraine. This is a big concession."

Talking about the Russian military's attack on Kiev, Trump said: "I don't like what happened last night. I'm not satisfied with this. We are at a critical moment for negotiating peace, yet there are still missile attacks."

After Trump demanded that Putin stop the attacks, Russia made a rare response. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the two sides were "moving in the right direction" toward an agreement to end the war in Ukraine, but still need to reach consensus on several specific issues.

Lavrov told CBS News: "The president's statement mentioned an agreement, we are ready for an agreement, but some specific details of the agreement still need to be further finalized... We maintain contact with the US side on the issue of Ukraine, and there are some signs indicating that we are moving in the right direction."

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy pointed out early on the 25th that the Russian army attempted to use large-scale air strikes to cover their ground offensive, but the Ukrainian army successfully repelled them.

Zelenskyy said, "The Russian army actually tried to launch a ground offensive under the cover of large-scale air strikes"; "While our troops were fully responding to missile and drone attacks, the Russian army intensified its ground offensive, but they were successfully repelled by us."

It is reported that U.S. envoy Witkowski will go to Russia on the 25th, and it is expected that he will hold new ceasefire talks with Russian President Putin.

Lavrov did not explicitly confirm this meeting, but when asked what Putin would say to Witkowski in the meeting, Lavrov replied: "We will continue to maintain contact with the US side regarding the situation in Ukraine."

According to later reports from Reuters, Russian President Putin met with visiting Witkowski at the Kremlin on Friday. Assistant Ushakov and Dmitryev, chairman of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, attended the meeting between the two, but there were no more details in the report.

This week, Trump said that he was "very close" to reaching a compromise with Russia and blamed the deadlock in the talks on Ukrainian President Zelenskyy.

It was noticed that Trump, losing patience, was particularly sharp in his criticism of Zelenskyy these days, accusing him of refusing to recognize Russia's occupation of Crimea, which hindered the peace process. Trump warned that if Ukraine continued to delay, the war might last for three years or even longer, ultimately leading to the loss of the entire country.

Trump also questioned why Zelenskyy did not take more active action in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea, believing this complicated the issue of Crimea.

At present, the Trump administration is trying to increase pressure on both Russia and Ukraine to prompt them to quickly reach an agreement, warning that if no resolution is reached soon, the United States will abandon its mediation efforts in this conflict.

Vice President Vance of the United States reiterated Trump's warning during his visit to India, claiming that if the two sides of Ukraine and Russia did not accept the American peace plan, the United States would back off. He emphasized that the only real way to stop the conflict was for both sides to lay down arms and freeze the current ceasefire status quo. It was rumored that the American peace proposal included recognizing Russia's actual control over Crimea.

The progress on the ceasefire agreement between the two sides remains uncertain. Although Russia showed a certain willingness to negotiate and was willing to make adjustments on some specific issues, its attitude towards Crimea remained firm. Ukraine, on the other hand, refused to recognize Russia's occupation on the issue of sovereignty, although there were internal discussions about territorial concessions in exchange for peace.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7497416055539712521/

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