Donald Trump has claimed that Russia and Ukraine would “immediately” begin peace talks following his call with Vladimir Putin on Monday, even though the Russian president rejected his appeal for an unconditional ceasefire.
Trump, seeking a breakthrough as part of his campaign promise to resolve the war in just 24 hours, portrayed the two-hour discussion as a significant step toward peace.
Putin, however, offered a more restrained outlook, expressing readiness to engage with Kyiv on a memorandum toward ending the war that began in February 2022, while insisting that both sides would need to make compromises.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has recently mended ties with Trump after a previous Oval Office dispute, spoke with the US president separately and cautioned him against making any decisions “without us.”
Trump continues to emphasize his personal rapport with Putin as the key to ending the conflict, though signs of frustration with the Russian leader’s reluctance to make a deal have surfaced.
“I believe it went very well,” Trump posted on Truth Social, asserting that “Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War.” He later added, “I believe he wants to stop… If I thought President Putin didn’t want to get this over with, I wouldn’t even be talking about it.”
Trump had recently proposed a 30-day ceasefire without preconditions. While Kyiv agreed, Putin has yet to endorse the idea, drawing criticism from Western governments.
Putin described the call as “very informative and very open and overall, in my opinion, very useful,” and said Moscow would be prepared to work with Ukraine on a potential peace agreement, though he provided few concrete details and stressed the need for further “compromises.”
Since taking office, Trump has largely avoided criticizing Putin and has pushed for renewed talks, worrying Ukraine and its Western allies. He continues to insist that only a direct meeting with the Russian president can bring the conflict to an end. However, Putin declined his offer to meet in Istanbul last week—location of the first direct Russia-Ukraine talks in over three years.
In his own remarks, Zelensky confirmed he spoke to Trump both before and after the Putin conversation and urged stronger sanctions if Russia continued to delay.
“I asked him not to make any decisions about Ukraine without us before his conversation with Putin,” Zelensky told reporters, ruling out any withdrawal from eastern and southern territories currently under Ukrainian control.
Trump has since spoken with several Western leaders, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and the heads of France, Germany, Italy, and Finland.
Meanwhile, Pope Leo XIV has reportedly offered the Vatican as a venue for peace negotiations, as confirmed by both Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
While Europe has rallied behind Ukraine’s call for tougher sanctions should Russia fail to accept a ceasefire, Trump appears more focused on restoring US-Russia relations, suggesting the prospect of “largescale TRADE with the United States when this catastrophic ‘bloodbath’ is over.”
Despite diplomatic overtures, hostilities on the ground persist. Moscow claimed it had taken control of two villages in eastern Ukraine’s Sumy and Donetsk regions. Ukraine reported that 112 drones were launched by Russia overnight, of which 76 were intercepted by its air force.
What you should know
Trump claimed peace talks would begin immediately after his call with Putin, though no ceasefire was agreed.
Zelensky urged the US not to act without consulting Ukraine, while Putin emphasized the need for compromise. The war continues despite diplomatic gestures.
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