Trump’s announcement came as Russia and Ukraine held talks in Istanbul on Friday, but the talks failed to yield any results. They did, however, agree to a prisoner swap.
US President Donald Trump said he would speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday to stop the bloodshed in Ukraine. He would also speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and NATO leaders.
In a post on the social media site Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said the call would take place at 10 a.m. local time and he would then speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and leaders of several NATO countries. Trump would ask them to stop the fighting.
Trump said he hoped it would be a productive day. A ceasefire would be reached through talks today. He added that a very violent war, it should never have started. But the Ukraine-Russia war will end.
Trump’s announcement came as Russia and Ukraine met in Istanbul on Friday, but the talks failed to produce any results, although they did agree to a prisoner swap.
Trump had offered to attend the meeting if Putin was present. But the Russian president refused to go.
Trump had previously said that progress on ending the war would only be possible if Putin held face-to-face talks.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to Russian news agencies that preparations were underway for a phone call between Putin and Trump on Monday. The two leaders have spoken about the matter before.
“Preparations for the talks are underway,” Peskov told the TASS news agency.
European leaders are urging Russia to agree to a 30-day ceasefire.
The US and Russian leaders are expected to discuss the ceasefire and a possible summit between themselves.
