Trump-Putin crucial discussion about the “blood bath in Ukraine”, at a time when Moscow forces the maximum claims / call of Europeans
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, in a phone discussion. Collage: Ion Mateș / Hotnews. Photo: Profimedia
Trump said he will talk at a few months at 10.00 (17.00, Bucharest time). The Kremlin said the preparations for the conversation are in progress, writes Reuters
US President Donald Trump is about to talk to Vladimir Putin on Monday about a armistice in the Ukraine war, after European leaders asked the Kremlin to accept an immediate cessation of fire.
Trump has repeatedly asked Moscow and Kiev to end the “blood bath” in Ukraine, but the discussions on this topic did not advance significantly.
Under Trump's pressure, delegates from the two countries met last week in Istanbul for the first time in March 2022, after Putin proposed direct discussions.
However, the only agreement was the one regarding an exchange of prisoners.
“Let's hope it will be a productive day”
“The topics of the conversation will be the stop of the” blood bath “that kill, on average, over 5,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers a week, and Trade,” Trump wrote on his Platform Truth Social.
“Let us hope that it will be a productive day, there will be a cessation of fire and this very violent war, a war that should never take place, will end,” he said.
Trump said he would talk a little at 10.00 (17.00, Bucharest time). The Kremlin said the preparations for the conversation are in progress.
Trump, whose administration said that Russia could face additional sanctions if it does not take peace negotiations, said he would talk to Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski and various NATO members.
Maximum claims
Putin, whose forces control one fifth of Ukraine and slowly advance on the battlefield, remained firmly on its conditions for the end of the war, despite the public and private pressure from Trump and the repeated warnings from the European powers.
On Sunday, Russia has launched the biggest drone attack on Ukraine since the beginning of the war.
Russia's maximum conditions do not seem to have changed.
In June 2024, Putin said that Ukraine should officially give up its NATO's accession ambitions and withdraw its troops from the entire territory of the four Ukrainian regions that Russia claims.
Moreover, Moscow wants Kiev to officially recognize Russian control over these regions.
The call of the Europeans
On Sunday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer discussed war and peace with leaders in the United States, Italy, France and Germany, a Downing Street spokesman said.
“Tomorrow, President Putin must show that he wants peace by accepting the unconditional cessation of fire for 30 days proposed by President Trump and supported by Ukraine and Europe,” said French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday's talk.
Putin, however, is avoiding a cessation of fire and says that battles cannot be interrupted until a series of crucial conditions are established or clarified.
European leaders say that Putin is not serious about peace, although they are afraid that Trump and Putin could force a peace agreement that will leave Ukraine without a fifth of the territory and without a strong security against a possible future attack from Russia.
