Trump to press Putin to finish ‘massacre’ in Ukraine

U.S. President Donald Trump will discuss one by one with Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday in hopes of finishing the “bloodbath” in Ukraine, amid considerations over Washington’s ongoing push to dealer peace-making.

“HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE A PRODUCTIVE DAY, A CEASEFIRE WILL TAKE PLACE, AND THIS VERY VIOLENT WAR, A WAR THAT SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED, WILL END,” Trump wrote on his Truth social media platform Saturday in his normal all-capitalized feedback.

The matter of the decision will likely be industry and preventing the “bloodbath” of Russian and Ukrainian deaths, he mentioned.

His name with Putin will happen at 5 p.m. Moscow time (10:00 a.m. E.T.) and can consider the end result of negotiations performed ultimate week in Istanbul, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov mentioned Monday, consistent with Google-translated feedback carried by way of Russian state information company Tass.

The U.S. mediation is about to occur after representatives from Russia and Ukraine held their first face-to-face talks since 2022 in Istanbul ultimate week, as a part of downgraded discussions that had firstly been was hoping to convey in combination Moscow and Kyiv’s heads of state. Putin and Trump in the long run spurned the assembly, which culminated in an settlement to replace prisoners of battle, however didn’t growth the peace procedure.

Talks to finish the three-year battle in Ukraine have languished in fresh months, regardless of a U.S. power to materialize Trump’s pledge to succeed in peace urgently. Threats from Trump that Washington may withdraw from the diplomatic procedure within the absence of an forthcoming solution have raised considerations that the White House may diminish its vital army and humanitarian improve for Ukraine.

Trump, whose revived dormant family members with the Kremlin after years of frigidity beneath his predecessor Joe Biden’s management, has just lately became tack on his reluctance to without delay criticize Putin, increasingly more levying the potential of additional sanctions on Moscow and backing a Ukraine and Europe-endorsed name for a 30-day ceasefire.

The contours of a short lived truce or everlasting peace proposal have remained elusive, amid maximalist Russian calls for and Zelenskyy’s unwillingness to entertain possible territorial concessions.

“The U.S. has presented a strong peace plan and we welcome the Prisoner of War exchange agreement reached in Istanbul. Let’s not miss this huge opportunity. The time for ending this war is now,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned on social media Saturday, following a decision with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

“He explained to me that they are going to be preparing a document outlining their requirements for a ceasefire that will then lead to broader negotiations,” Rubio mentioned in a later TV interview with CBS. “Obviously, the Ukrainian side is going to be working on their own proposal. And hopefully that will be forthcoming soon.”

Yet the indicators of Washington’s dwindling endurance with the stalled procedure linger.

“We don’t want to be involved in this process of just endless talks. There has to be some progress, some movement forward,” Rubio stressed out.

On Sunday, Zelenskyy additionally met with Rubio and U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, decrying on social media the “low level delegation of non-decision-makers” deployed by way of Russia to Istanbul ultimate week, including that he reaffirmed that “Ukraine is ready to be engaged in real diplomacy and underscored the importance of a full and unconditional ceasefire as soon as possible.”

Sidelined all through a lot of the hot peace brokering, European officers have raced to have interaction with the White House, with British, U.S., Italian, French and German leaders discussing Trump’s upcoming engagement with Putin right through a decision on Sunday.

“Looking ahead to President Trump’s call with President Putin tomorrow, the leaders discussed the need for an unconditional ceasefire and for President Putin to take peace talks seriously,” a British govt readout mentioned. “They also discussed the use of sanctions if Russia failed to engage seriously in a ceasefire and peace talks.”