Updated May 19, 2025 at 12:14 PM MDT
MOSCOW — President Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin for two hours on Monday as part of a series of phone calls to work toward a ceasefire in Russia's war in Ukraine.
Putin did not agree to an immediate ceasefire, which has long been sought by Ukraine, the U.S. and many NATO countries. But Trump said after the call that Russia and Ukraine would start talks toward a ceasefire and eventually an end to the war.
"The tone and spirit of the conversation were excellent," Trump wrote on social media. "Russia wants to do largescale TRADE with the United States when this catastrophic 'bloodbath' is over, and I agree."
Trump said he also spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a group of European leaders immediately after his call with Putin.
Putin thanked Trump for his diplomatic efforts and said the search for peace in Ukraine was "on the right track."
"We have agreed with the president of the United States that Russia will propose and is ready to work with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum on a possible future peace accord, defining a number of positions, such as, for example, the principles of a settlement, the timing of a possible peace agreement," Putin said in the southern Russian resort city of Sochi.
"Russia is for a peaceful settlement to the Ukraine crisis. But we should determine the most effective path towards that peace," he said.
President Trump has been working the phones on Monday as he continues efforts to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.
Writing on social media over the weekend, Trump said he would discuss how to stop the "bloodbath" between Russia and Ukraine and hoped Monday would be a "productive day" of calls. Vice President Vance said before the calls that peace talks were at an "impasse" and the U.S. was "more than open to walking away."
The phone diplomacy follows direct talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul on Friday, where both sides said they would each exchange 1,000 prisoners of war but failed to agree on an immediate ceasefire. The negotiations hosted by Turkey's foreign minister were the first direct talks between Russia and Ukraine since the early days of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Russian President Vladimir Putin skipped the meeting in Turkey, despite having called for it to happen in an apparent attempt to seize the diplomatic initiative from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Since then, Russia has kept up the military pressure on Ukraine, launching mass drone attacks throughout the weekend that killed at least 11 people. The attacks included a barrage on Sunday that Ukrainian authorities said was the largest since the conflict began.
Earlier Monday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump would call Zelenskyy after his call with Putin. She also repeated that Trump has "grown very frustrated with both sides of the conflict" but was keeping his options open.
As Vice President Vance prepared to depart from Italy, he told reporters, "I think, honestly, President Putin, he doesn't quite know how to get out of the war."
In a weekend interview on Russian state television, Putin insisted Moscow maintained both the force and means capable of meeting its military objectives. He said that would include security for residents in territories of Ukraine that Russia claims to have annexed but does not fully control.
Should Trump fail to convince Putin to agree to an immediate ceasefire, European leaders have urged Trump to join them in imposing an endgame round of additional sanctions and tariffs on Russian energy and banking.
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy met with Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Rome on Sunday, and said he urged the administration to take a tough stance on Moscow. "Pressure is needed against Russia until they are eager to stop the war," Zelenskyy said on social media.
Yet analysts in Moscow tell NPR the Kremlin has entered these negotiations convinced that time and a military advantage are on its side.
"Russia at this certain point can continue its military operations. Sanctions are inflicting harm but this harm is not critical for macro-economics of Russia," Ivan Timofeev, head of the Russian International Affairs Council, said, noting the Russian army is making slow but steady gains.
"So in a year, Ukraine can find itself in a less favorable negotiating position," he added.
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