U.S. President Donald J. Trump said that he will speak to Russian leader Vladimir Putin in a phone call on Monday aimed at bringing an end to the war in Ukraine.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, President Trump said that he will speak with Putin at 10 am on Monday morning, following the first round of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul since the early aftermath of the 2022 invasion.
“The subjects of the call will be stopping the ‘bloodbath’ that is killing, on average, more than 5000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers a week, and trade,” Trump wrote.
“I will then be speaking to President Zelenskyy of Ukraine and then, with President Zelenskyy, various members of NATO. Hopefully, it will be a productive day, a ceasefire will take place, and this very violent war, a war that should have never happened, will end. God bless us all!!!” he added.
Moscow has yet to comment on the upcoming talks between Trump and Putin. However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Saturday that Russia is open to a potential meeting between Putin and President Zelensky if peace talks advance.
While the two sides agreed in Istanbul to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war as a sign of good faith, the meeting largely failed to lay the groundwork for any broader peace deal.
Reports have claimed that the Russian delegation demanded that Ukrainian forces withdraw from the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia entirely before any ceasefire would be agreed to.
Russia annexed the Ukrainian territories following a series of contested referenda in 2022. However, Russian forces have failed to entirely secure the areas, and it is unclear if Ukraine, which still asserts its ownership, would be willing to withdraw from the territories.
The Kremlin also reportedly said that for a full peace deal, Ukraine would have to officially adopt a neutral stance, thus forsaking NATO membership, ensure that no foreign troops or weapons are stationed in Ukraine, and recognise Russian ownership of the four contested territories as well as Crimea.
Without confirming the specifics, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Heorhii Tykhyi, said that Russia’s demands during the talks in Istanbul were unacceptable to Kyiv.
In an interview published on Friday by Fox News, President Trump said that he would be willing to ramp up pressure on Russia by driving down the cost of oil and levying fresh sanctions if Moscow doesn’t agree to a deal soon.
“We’ll see what happens… It will be crushing for Russia because they’re having a hard time with the economy,” Trump said.
“I have a very good relationship with Putin, I think we will make a deal. We have to get together and I think we will probably schedule it because I’m tired of having other people go and meet,” he said.
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