The US President Donald Trump, during a conversation with President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders on May 19, said that Putin had agreed to the talks, but the United States would not participate in them. He also opposed the imposition of sanctions against Russia.
Axios writes about this with reference to sources.
During the call, Trump said that Putin had agreed to immediately begin direct talks on a ceasefire. According to one of the participants in the call, there was a few seconds of silence after these words.
Zelensky noted that Putin had previously agreed to talks, and the first round of ceasefire talks took place in Istanbul on Friday. Trump did not respond directly to that.
Sources say Zelensky and several other leaders reminded Trump that it was he who proposed starting peace talks with an immediate 30-day ceasefire.
Other European leaders have asked about the possibility of US sanctions, but Trump said he did not think it was a good idea and stressed that he believed Putin wanted to reach an agreement.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni asked why a ceasefire couldnʼt be implemented for at least two weeks ahead of the negotiations, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz asked what concessions Russia was willing to make.
Trump responded that Putin would provide a “memorandum of peace” with terms for a ceasefire and an end to the war. According to the source, Trump told Zelensky and European leaders that he had asked Putin to present “something that could be agreed to”, not an offer that would be immediately rejected.
Zelensky stressed that previous rounds of negotiations with Putin, in particular last week, did not yield any results and that without pressure from Trump, Putin will not budge.
According to sources, the leaders on the call seemed surprised that Trump was relatively satisfied with Putinʼs response and presented it as a new development, even though the Russian leaderʼs position had not changed at all.
Also during the conversation, Trump said that Russia and Ukraine should hold bilateral direct negotiations without the participation of third parties, since they are the ones who best understand all the details of the conflict. In response, Maloney and Merz said that the United States and European countries should be involved in the negotiations.
“Someone has to be the arbitrator,” Meloni said. Merz suggested a meeting involving all parties.
Trump later suggested the Vatican as a possible location for the talks.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb asked Trump about the next steps. "I donʼt know. Someone has to come out and say whether the talks are going well or badly — and then weʼll decide what to do," Trump replied.
- On May 19, Trump held a series of talks with the leaders of Ukraine, the EU, and Russia. Before his call with Putin, he called Zelensky to ask what topics to raise. According to media reports, the Ukrainian president asked to discuss a 30-day ceasefire and an upcoming meeting between Zelensky and Putin, which Trump could join.
- Trumpʼs conversation with Putin lasted more than 2 hours. Following the conversation, Putin stated that he was ready to work on a memorandum with Ukraine, which includes a ceasefire, and Trump said that the terms of the memorandum should be discussed only between Ukraine and Russia.
- Zelensky, following the talks, said that Ukraine would not withdraw troops from territories partially occupied by Russians. Earlier, media reported that Russia had made such a demand on May 16 at talks in Istanbul in exchange for a ceasefire.
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