“I will speak on the phone with […] Putin on Monday at 10.00. The topics of the call will be: the stop of the Blood Bath, which kills on average more than 5 thousand Russian and Ukrainian fighters, and trade, ”he wrote.
Trump said that after a call to Putin, he intends to contact the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky and “various NATO members”.
“I hope this will be a productive day, the ceasefire will be reached, and this very cruel war, the war that should never have happened will end. God bless us all!”, The post said.
On May 16, French President Emmanuel Macron said that Trump plans to talk in the near future with representatives of the Russian aggressor country about the negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul (Türkiye).
Context
On the night of May 11, after Ultimatum of European countries Upon ceasefire in Ukraine, Putin suggested Ukraine resume direct negotiations on the war “without preliminary conditions “ In Istanbul on May 15.
Trump called for Ukraine to agree immediately To meet with the Russian Federation. After that, Zelensky said: he will wait for Putin in Turkey on May 15. The Kremlin was silent in response, confirming the composition of the delegation only on the night of May 14. The illegitimate president of the Russian Federation did not come to a meeting in Turkey, instead sent a low -level delegation (it was headed by Putin's assistant Medinsky), which Zelensky He called the butacher.
Trump, who at first did not exclude the opportunity to come to Istanbul, after Putin’s refusal to arrive in Turkey said that he “was not going to” go there. “Why would he go if I don’t go? ”Trump said on May 15, answering the question of the absence of the head of the Kremlin in the negotiations.
On May 16, negotiations of delegations of the Russian Federation and Ukraine were negotiated. The Foreign Ministry of Ukraine said according to the results of negotiations that the Russians demanded a number of things unacceptable to Ukraine.
The interlocutor in Ukrainian diplomacy told Sky News that in the negotiations in Istanbul The Russian Federation demanded the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from “its territories” for the ceasefire (what exactly was being discussed, the channel did not specify). There were other requirements that cannot be fulfilled.
According to the informed interlocutor, which was referred to by the journalist The Economist Oliver Carroll, the Russian delegation also threatened to seize the Kharkov or Sumy region. Medinsky said that the Russian Federation allegedly “could fight forever.” In addition, the interlocutor of the “suspension” said that the delegation of the Russian Federation was made a demand to recognize Crimea by the Russian one.
Zelensky noted that Russians “do everything possible to turn this meeting in Istanbul into a staged, empty process.”
