US President Donald Trump says Russia and Ukraine will start “immediately” to negotiate towards a ceasefire and the end of the war, after a two-hour telephone call with a Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
Trump, who described the conversation as “very good”, also said that the conditions of peace should be negotiated between the two parties.
Despite Trump’s optimism note, who also spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, any ceasefire or peace agreement does not seem close.
Putin said he was ready to work with Ukraine on a “memorandum on a possible future peace agreement”, while Zelensky said “it is a decisive moment”, and urged the United States not to distant talks.
While Trump expressed his positivity to his conversation with Putin, there was no indication of the moment when the peace negotiations are taking place. The Russian president also did not respond to requests from American and European countries for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire.
After his individual call with Trump, Zelensky reaffirmed Ukraine’s desire for a “full and unconditional ceasefire”, and warned that Moscow was not ready, “there must be stronger sanctions”.
Speaking earlier before Trump’s conversation with Putin, Zelensky said that he had asked that not all decisions about Ukraine were taken without his country, calling them “principles of principles” for Ukraine.
He added that he had no details on a “memorandum” but said that once they have received something from the Russians, they “will be able to formulate their vision accordingly”.
Writing on his social page of truth after the call, Trump said: “Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations to a cease-fire and, more importantly, the end of the war”, adding that it had informed Zelensky of this during a second call, which also included other world leaders.
He added: “The conditions for this will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be because they know the details of a negotiation that no one else would know.”
Zelensky said the negotiation process “must involve American and European representatives at the appropriate level”.
“It is crucial to all of us that the United States does not distance themselves from talks and the pursuit of peace, because the only one to take advantage of it is Putin,” he said.
Speaking during a White House event later during the day, Trump said that the United States would not move away from negotiation talks between Russia and Ukraine, but that he has a “red line” when he stops pushing them both.
He also denied that the United States was withdrawing from its negotiation role.
In the past few weeks, Trump has repeatedly warned that the United States would move away from negotiations when it was increasingly frustrated by the lack of developments in Moscow and kyiv in terms of peace.
When he was asked what he believed in Russia, he said he thought Putin had enough of the war and wanted it to end.
Meanwhile, Putin – who described the call with Trump, whom he took in a music school during a visit to the city of Sochi, like “Frank, informative and constructive” – also spoke of the ceasefire potential.
“We have agreed with the American president that Russia will offer and is ready to work with Ukraine on a memorandum on a possible future peace agreement,” he said.
This, he added, would define “a certain number of positions”, including “the principles of the regulation and a calendar to conclude a possible peace agreement … including a possible cease-fire during a certain period of time, if the relevant agreements were concluded”.
Yury Ushakov, assistant to the Russian president, said that a cease-fire period was not “discussed … Although Trump, of course, underlines his interest in reaching one or another agreement as soon as possible”.
Zelensky held a second call with Trump after the American president spoke to Putin, who also included the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and the leaders of France, Italy, Germany and Finland.
“I would like to thank President Trump for his tireless efforts to bring a cease-fire to Ukraine,” said Von Der Leyen, adding: “It is important that the United States remains committed.”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said that Pope Leo’s offer to welcome potential peace talks was a gesture welcomed by the United States and other calls of the call, and “judged positively”.
Earlier this month, the new Pope offered to the Vatican as a possible place of peace talks after Putin refused Zelensky’s offer to meet face to face in Turkey for negotiations.
Kyiv previously said that Putin’s comments saying that he wants peace to be hollow.
“Putin wants war,” said Andriy Yermak, a high -level assistant from the Ukrainian president, after Russia’s launch on Sunday, which Ukraine said it was his biggest drone attack since the start of the large -scale invasion.
Ukraine says that at least 10 people have been killed in Russian strikes in recent days – including nine people in an attack on a civil minibus in northeast Ukraine. Russia says it has also intercepted Ukrainian drones.
The strike on the bus It arrived only a few hours after Russia and Ukraine had their first face -to -face talks in more than three years. An exchange of prisoners was agreed, but there was no commitment to a ceasefire.
Trump had offered to attend talks in Türkiye if Putin would also be there, but the Russian president refused to leave.
Russia has already declared ceasefire-but only temporary. He declared one for May 8 to 11 – which coincided with victory celebrations to mark the end of the Second World War – but kyiv was not registering, saying that Putin could not trust and that an immediate 30 -day cease -fire was necessary.
The Kremlin announced a similar truce of 30 hours on Easter, but while the two parties reported a drop in fighting, they accused each other of hundreds of violations.
Russia and Ukraine have been at war since Moscow launched a large -scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
