In an effort to stop the “bloodbath” in the war between Russia and Ukraine, President Donald Trump will have separate phone calls with Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday.
Trump will first speak with the Russian leader and the “subjects of the call will be, stopping the ‘bloodbath’ that is killing, on average, more than 5,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers a week, and trade,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Saturday morning.
“I will then be speaking to President Zelenskyy of Ukraine and then, with President Zelenskyy, various members of NATO,” Trump wrote. “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!!!”
Russia invaded Ukraine over three years ago, a move Trump says would not have happened had he been president at the time. Trump has made ending the war between the two countries a key priority of his administration.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump and Putin have spoken by phone but have not met in person. Trump has met twice with Zelenskyy, first in a contentious meeting at the White House in February. The two leaders met alone at the Vatican on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral in April.
The announcement of the Monday phone calls comes one day after delegations from Russia and Ukraine met in Istanbul for the first direct talks between the two nations since March 2022.
Putin proposed the direct peace talks but chose not to attend the meeting in Istanbul. Trump encouraged Zelenskyy to meet with Putin after the Russian leader suggested the talks and Zelenskyy flew to Turkey, but ultimately did not attend the meeting.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was present for the talks on Friday, but acknowledged beforehand that he did not expect a breakthrough without key leaders in the room.
Following the less than two-hour meeting in Istanbul, Ukrainian official familiar with the talks told Reuters that Russia is demanding Ukraine pull all its troops out of the regions Russia has claimed before a ceasefire is agreed upon.
While no clear results toward peace were reached during Friday’s meeting, the two nations did agree to a large prisoner swap of 1,000 prisoners of war on each side.
Vladimir Medinsky, a top Kremlin aide who led the Russian delegation, said each delegation did agree for both sides to present a ceasefire plan in detail and that talks will continue.
“Ukraine is ready to take all realistic steps to end this war,” Zelenskyy wrote on X Friday.
“President Trump wants to end this war,” Zelenskyy continued in a series of posts on X. “We need to keep working closely with him and stay as coordinated as possible. Long-term U.S. support is also essential. An American backstop is needed. It’s important that we all work together, on every level, to make that happen.”
