Putin holds phone conversation with Saudi crown prince on Ukraine truce

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman about a possible end to the conflict in Ukraine, the Kremlin and Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry announced Friday, expressing support for "all initiatives."

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reaffirmed Saudi Arabia's "commitment to facilitate dialogue and support all initiatives aimed at achieving a political resolution" in a telephone call with Putin, a Foreign Ministry statement said.

The day before, Putin had declared himself in favor, albeit conditionally, of the 30-day truce proposed by the United States after a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Saudi Arabia. However he also did not accept the truce offer and asked to renegotiate it with Trump.

He assured that at the moment, and mainly due to the situation on the Kursk front, where Ukraine controls about 40 square miles of Russian territory, a truce does not suit Russia at all.

During the summit in Saudi Arabia this week between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and a Ukrainian delegation, Volodymyr Zelensky held a parallel meeting with Mohammed bin Salman.

In their telephone conversation on Friday, President Putin also expressed "high appreciation for the mediation efforts of Saudi Arabia," which also hosted negotiations between Russia and the U.S. in mid-February, the Kremlin noted.

"Mohammed bin Salman stressed the importance of resolving the Ukrainian crisis and said he was ready to continue contributing to the normalization of U.S.-Russian relations," the same source noted.

The two leaders also evoked the importance of bilateral cooperation for "the stability of the world oil market," the Kremlin added.