Trump announces «immediate» talks between Ukraine and Russia after speaking with Putin
- Darina Melnychuk
-
•
-
22:16, 19 May, 2025
US President Donald Trump. Photo: AP Photo/Evan VucciUS President Donald Trump, after a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, said that Ukraine and Russia «would immediately» begin ceasefire talks.
The US president wrote about this on Truth Social, according to «European Truth».
Donald Trump said that his conversation with the Russian president went «very well», and its tone and spirit «were excellent».
«Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations on a ceasefire and, more importantly, on the end of the war. The terms of this will be negotiated between the two sides, as they should be, since only they know the details of the negotiations that no one else can know about», Donald Trump wrote.
He also pointed out that Russia wants to trade with the United States, «and I agree with that», because it «has an extraordinary opportunity to create a huge amount of jobs and wealth», and «its potential is unlimited».
The US President also said that he had informed President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, President of France Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and President of Finland Alexander Stubb about the conversation.
«The talks between Russia and Ukraine will start immediately... The Vatican, represented by the Pope, has said it will be very interested in the talks. Let the process begin!» summed up Donald Trump.
Trump announced the planned phone calls after Russian and Ukrainian representatives met in Istanbul for face-to-face talks. This was the first meeting between the two sides since the first weeks after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia-Ukraine talks in Turkey
On 11 May, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his desire to resume direct talks with Ukraine, which were suspended at the end of 2022. He also said that he planned to address Turkish President Recep Erdogan with a proposal to organise the talks.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented on Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposal for direct talks, calling it a «good sign». However, Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that a ceasefire was needed first to really start a dialogue with Russia. He later stressed that he was looking forward to direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Turkey.
In addition, Turkish President Recep Erdogan accepted Russian President Vladimir Putin's offer to hold talks between Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul on 15 May.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump said that he had no information on whether Russian President Vladimir Putin would attend the talks. At the same time, he did not rule out the possibility of his own participation in the event.
Late in the evening of 14 May, the Kremlin approved the official list of Russian representatives to participate in peace talks with Ukraine, but Russian President Vladimir Putin is not among the delegates.
On the day of the talks, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the Ukrainian delegation had arrived in Ankara in full force and was ready for real solutions to achieve a just peace. The composition of the Russian delegation is still unknown and, according to the head of state, resembles «a prop level».
After the talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented on the negotiation process with Russia, saying that Ukraine was ready to take all steps to end the war and urged Vladimir Putin to give the Russian delegation decision-making powers.
Later, it became known that Ukraine and Russia discussed a ceasefire and the exchange of prisoners of war in the format of «thousand for thousand» during the talks in Istanbul.
However, the Ukrainian and Russian sides agreed to meet again during the talks in Istanbul on 16 May.