Trump Announces Immediate Russia-Ukraine Ceasefire Talks After Call With Putin
U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that Russia and Ukraine will “immediately start negotiations” for a ceasefire and a potential end to the war, following a two-hour phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Monday, The Gaze reports.
Trump described the conversation as “excellent in tone and spirit,” claiming that both sides are now ready to engage in direct dialogue to end what he called a “catastrophic bloodbath.”
“Just completed my two-hour call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. I believe it went very well. Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War,” Trump said in a statement posted on Truth Social.
“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.”
The Kremlin also confirmed the call, with Putin calling the discussion “informative, frank and very useful.”
Trump added that he had immediately informed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Finnish President Alexander Stubb about the outcome of the call with Putin.
While Trump stated that his call with Putin preceded a conversation with Zelenskyy, Reuters reported that Zelenskyy and Trump had actually spoken briefly earlier in the day in what was described as a “short call lasting just a few minutes.”
In his announcement, Trump also said the Vatican had expressed willingness to host the negotiations. “The Vatican, as represented by the Pope, has stated that it would be very interested in hosting the negotiations. Let the process begin!”
Trump framed the future of the war-torn region in economic terms, noting that “Russia wants to do large-scale TRADE with the United States when this catastrophic ‘bloodbath’ is over,” and calling the economic potential for both Russia and Ukraine “UNLIMITED” in the post-war reconstruction phase.
As The Gaze reported earlier, during the talks in Istanbul, Ukraine and Russia discussed the ceasefire and humanitarian issues, as well as a possible meeting at the level of leaders. In particular, they agreed to exchange prisoners in the format of "1000 for 1000".
Read more on The Gaze: Can Türkiye bring peace or ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine?