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WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that Russia and Ukraine will “immediately” begin ceasefire negotiations after what he described as an “excellent” call with Russian President Vladimir Putin that lasted more than two hours.
Trump also spoke with with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders in hopes of making progress toward a ceasefire.
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“The conditions for that will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be, because they know details of a negotiation that nobody else would be aware of,” Trump said in a social media post.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 19, 2025
Trump said the call was “excellent,” adding, “If it wasn’t, I would say so now, rather than later.”
The conversations came after the White House said the U.S. leader has grown “frustrated” with both leaders over the continuing war in Ukraine.
After the call, Putin said Russia was ready to continue discussing an end to the fighting, but he indicated there was no major breakthrough in what he termed a “very informative and very frank” conversation with Trump. Putin said the warring countries should “find compromises that would suit all parties.”
Moscow, he said, will “propose and is ready to work with” Ukraine on a “memorandum” outlining the framework for “a possible future peace treaty.”
“At the same time, I would like to note that, in general, Russia’s position is clear. The main thing for us is to eliminate the root causes of this crisis,” the Russian president said.
U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks with reporters after announcing a trade deal with United Kingdom in the Oval Office of the White House on Thursday, May 8, 2025, in Washington. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Evan Vucci)
Trump and Putin addressed each other by first names
Russian presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov, who previously served as Russian ambassador to the U.S., described the conversation as friendly, with Trump and Putin addressing each other by their first names.
“Trump said, ‘Vladimir, you can pick up the phone at any time and I will be happy to answer and speak with you,’” he said.
Ushakov also said Trump and Putin could meet face-to-face at some point, but no timeline was set.
Zelenskyy told reporters that he emphasized to Trump that no decisions should be made about Ukraine without involving Kyiv. He also said that he discussed the potential for “serious sanctions” on Russia.
I spoke with @POTUS twice today. First, we had a one-on-one call before his conversation with the head of Russia, and later we spoke together with President Trump and European leaders President @EmmanuelMacron, Prime Minister @GiorgiaMeloni, Federal Chancellor @bundeskanzler,… pic.twitter.com/mm6a0Pro84
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 19, 2025
A second phone call involving Trump included leaders from France, Italy and Finland, as well as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Zelenskyy added. That call happened after Trump talked to Putin.
Trump has struggled to end a war that began with Russia’s invasion in February 2022, a setback for his promises to quickly settle the conflict once he was back in the White House, if not even before he took office.
“He’s grown weary and frustrated with both sides of the conflict,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday ahead of the call.
“He has made it clear to both sides that he wants to see a peaceful resolution and ceasefire as soon as possible.”
The Republican president is banking on the idea that his force of personality and personal history with Putin will be enough to break any impasse over a pause in the fighting.
Ahead of the call, Vice President JD Vance said Trump could walk away from trying to end the war if he feels Putin isn’t serious about negotiation.
“I’d say we’re more than open to walking away,” Vance told reporters before leaving Rome after meeting with Pope Leo XIV.
Vance said Trump has been clear that the U.S. “is not going to spin its wheels here. We want to see outcomes.”
Trump said the Vatican expressed interest in hosting the negotiations, but there was no immediate confirmation that any talks had been scheduled.
Bessent suggests previous sanctions were inadequate
Trump said his discussion with Putin would also cover trade, a sign that Trump might be seeking to use financial incentives to broker some kind of agreement after Russia’s invasion led to severe sanctions by the United States and its allies that have steadily eroded Moscow’s ability to grow.
Trump’s treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press that Trump had made it clear that a failure by Putin to negotiate “in good faith” could lead to additional sanctions against Russia.
Bessent suggested the sanctions that began during the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden were inadequate because they did not stop Russia’s oil revenues, due to concerns that doing so would increase U.S. prices.
The United States sought to cap Russia’s oil revenues while preserving the country’s petroleum exports to limit the damage from the inflation that the war produced.
No ceasefire but an exchange of prisoners
Putin recently rejected an offer by Zelenskyy to meet in-person in Turkey as an alternative to a 30-day ceasefire urged by Ukraine and its Western allies, including Washington.
Instead, Russian and Ukrainian officials met in Istanbul for talks, the first such direct negotiations since March 2022.
Those talks ended Friday after less than two hours, without a ceasefire in place. Still, both countries committed to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war each, with Ukraine’s intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, saying on Ukrainian television Saturday that the exchanges could happen as early as this week.
While wrapping up his four-day trip to the Middle East, Trump said Friday that Putin had not gone to Turkey because Trump himself wasn’t there.
“He and I will meet, and I think we’ll solve it or maybe not,” Trump told reporters after boarding Air Force One. “At least we’ll know. And if we don’t solve it, it’ll be very interesting.”
Zelenskyy met with Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Rome on Sunday, as well as European leaders, intensifying his efforts before the Monday calls.
Good meeting with @VP J. D. Vance and Secretary of State @SecRubio in Rome.
During our talks we discussed negotiations in Istanbul to where the Russians sent a low level delegation of non-decision-makers. I reaffirmed that Ukraine is ready to be engaged in real diplomacy and… pic.twitter.com/ko2cKKYvCZ
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 18, 2025
The Ukrainian president said on the social media site X that during his talks with the American officials, they discussed the negotiations in Turkey and that “the Russians sent a low level delegation of non-decision-makers.” He also said he stressed that Ukraine is engaged in ”real diplomacy” to have a ceasefire.
“We have also touched upon the need for sanctions against Russia, bilateral trade, defense cooperation, battlefield situation and upcoming prisoners exchange,” Zelenskyy said. “Pressure is needed against Russia until they are eager to stop the war.”
The German government said Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French, British and Italian leaders spoke with Trump late Sunday about the situation in Ukraine and his upcoming call with Putin. A brief statement gave no details of the conversation, but said the plan is for the exchange to be continued directly after the Trump-Putin call.
— by Zeke Miller, Josh Boak And Katie Marie Davies in Washington
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