Trump and Putin are scheduled to speak on the phone at 17:00 Kyiv time
- Svitlana Ivanchenko
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14:01, 19 May, 2025
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Collage: TSN.uaOn Monday, 19 May, US President Donald Trump will hold phone conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as part of the White House's efforts to reach a truce in Russia's war against Ukraine.
The US president wrote that the main topic of the conversation would be an end to the bloodshed. Trump's call with Putin is scheduled for 17:00 Kyiv time.
«The topic of the call will be to end «the bloodshed». We hope that it will be a productive day, that there will be a ceasefire, and that this very brutal war, a war that should never have happened, will end», Donald Trump wrote.
The call was later confirmed by Kremlin spokesman Dmitrii Peskov, Russian media reported.
He claims that the conversation will take place «taking into account the outcome of the talks in Istanbul». In addition, Peskov said that Putin's meeting with the US president depends on their personal agreements. At the same time, it needs to be well prepared.
Steve Witkoff, the White House special envoy who has already met with Putin three times, hopes that a dialogue between Trump and the Russian leader will help move the process forward.
«They know each other. The president is determined to do something here. If he can't do it, no one can,» said Steve Witkoff.
It should be noted that a separate conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also scheduled to take place on the same day.
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.