UNITED States President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, May 19, on the need to end the war in Ukraine.
This is as European leaders intensify calls for the Kremlin to agree to an immediate ceasefire to end the region’s deadliest conflict since World War II.
Prompted by pressure from Trump, delegates from the warring nations convened last week in Istanbul, their first meeting since March 2022, following a proposal for direct talks by Putin, European leaders and Ukraine for an immediate ceasefire.
However, Trump said that meaningful progress toward peace was unlikely until he and Putin met directly, announcing that he would speak with the Russian president at 10 a.m. Eastern Time (1400 GMT) today and the Kremlin confirmed that preparations for the call were in progress.
“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 his Truth Social website.
“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.”
The ICIR reported that European leaders, with Trump’s support, have made it clear that Russia could face additional sanctions if it does not take peace talks seriously.
However, Putin has remained steadfast in his conditions for ending the war, even as Russian forces continue to advance and hold control over a fifth of Ukraine.
On Sunday, Russia carried out its largest drone attack on Ukraine since the war began. Ukraine’s intelligence service also reported that it believed Moscow planned to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile the same day, although Russia has not confirmed this.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer held discussions with the leaders of the United States, Italy, France, and Germany on Sunday, May 18, regarding the war, according to a Downing Street spokesperson.
“Tomorrow, President Putin must show he wants peace by accepting the 30-day unconditional ceasefire proposed by President Trump and backed by Ukraine and Europe,” French President Emmanuel Macron said on X after Sunday’s call.
European leaders argue that Putin is not genuinely committed to peace, but they worry that he and Trump could push for a punitive peace deal that would leave Ukraine without a strong security guarantee and effectively cede a fifth of its territory to Russia.
The ICIR reports that Putin has portrayed the war as a pivotal moment in Moscow’s relationship with the West, accusing Western powers of humiliating Russia after the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991 by expanding NATO and encroaching on territories he views as within Russia’s sphere of influence, including Ukraine.
In February 2022, Putin deployed thousands of troops into Ukraine, sparking the most serious confrontation between Russia and the West since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.
Trump, who wants to be remembered as a peacemaker, has repeatedly called for an end to the ‘bloodbath’ in Ukraine, which his administration describes as a proxy conflict between the United States and Russia.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues.