US President Donald Trump said Kyiv and Moscow would start working towards a ceasefire bilaterally after his Monday phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Prior to the call, Trump was expected to urge Putin to accept a 30-day unconditional ceasefire with Kyiv, following a White House statement that Trump was “weary and frustrated” with the slow pace of efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
In a Truth Social update following the call, Trump said he “[believes] it went very well,” adding that Kyiv and Moscow will negotiate their own ceasefire agreement – suggesting that Moscow has rejected the proposed 30-day ceasefire once again.
“Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War. The conditions for that will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be, because they know details of a negotiation that nobody else would be aware of,” Trump said.
Putin, in his address after the call, said Moscow is open to some form of “memorandum” with Kyiv on peace settlements, including that on a ceasefire.
Earlier, the West called for Moscow to accept a 30-day unconditional ceasefire starting May 12 with the threat of crippling sanctions, prompting Putin to propose direct talks in Turkey, which were delayed to May 16 after he failed to appear, ultimately resulting in a prisoner exchange deal but no ceasefire.
Trump also said the “tone and spirit of the conversation [with Putin] were excellent,” then reiterated his desire to resume trade with Russia, suggesting that more sanctions on Moscow from Washington are currently unlikely.
“Russia wants to do largescale [sic] TRADE with the United States when this catastrophic ‘bloodbath’ is over, and I agree. There is a tremendous opportunity for Russia to create massive amounts of jobs and wealth. Its potential is UNLIMITED,” Trump wrote.
Trump added that he had already briefed the European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on his call with Putin.
It is unclear if Europe will move forward with the sanctions without the support of Washington. European leaders have called on Trump to pressure Moscow with more sanctions in recent days after Moscow failed to comply with the May 12 ceasefire deadline.
The idea of a 30-day unconditional ceasefire has been floating around since at least March, during the US-brokered talks in Saudi Arabia.