Trump says Russia and Ukraine will begin ceasefire talks 'immediately' after Putin call

19 May 2025 23:49

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Trump says Russia and Ukraine will begin ceasefire talks 'immediately' after Putin call

Photo: AP

Former US President Donald Trump has stated that ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine will begin "immediately" following a phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he believed the call "went very well" and that "Russia wants to do largescale TRADE with the United States when this catastrophic 'bloodbath' is over."

"I have so informed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, of Ukraine, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, President Emmanuel Macron, of France, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, of Italy, Chancellor Friedrich Merz, of Germany, and President Alexander Stubb, of Finland, during a call with me, immediately after the call with President Putin. The Vatican, as represented by the Pope, has stated that it would be very interested in hosting the negotiations. Let the process begin!"

Before Trump's social media statement, Putin had released a statement saying a "ceasefire is possible if the right agreements are reached" but didn't explain what those agreements were.

He did say however that Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov or the head of Moscow's negotiating team, Vladimir Ushakov, would give more details later.

"Russia will propose and is ready to work with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum on a possible future peace agreement with the definition of a number of positions. Such as, for example, the principles of a solution, the timing of a possible peace agreement and so on, including a possible ceasefire for a certain period of time if appropriate agreements are reached," Putin said in a quote carried by the state-owned news agency TASS, which also reported the call with Trump lasted for more than two hours.

Russia has previously insisted on addressing what the Kremlin calls the "root causes" of its war, which includes Ukraine's aspirations to join both the EU and NATO.

According to Moscow, that also includes NATO's alleged violation of commitments not to expand eastwards, the Ukrainian government's alleged discrimination against ethnic Russians and what Putin calls the "denazification" of Ukraine.

Putin and Russia have failed to provide evidence for any of these allegations so far.

News.Az