Donald Trump is set to speak with Vladimir Putin later today (Monday) about a possible peace deal for Ukraine as calls for a ceasefire intensify.
It comes after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky travelled to Turkey for talks mooted by the Russian leader last week, only for Putin to fail to show up. Trump has repeatedly called for an end to the “bloodbath” in Ukraine and even claimed on the campaign trail before last year’s US election that he would end the war on his first day in office.
In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote: “The subjects of the call will be stopping the ‘bloodbath’ that is killing, on average, more than 5,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers a week, and trade. 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.
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On Sunday, Russia launched its largest drone attack on Ukraine since the start of the war as leaders called again for a cessation of hostilities.
Sir Keir Starmer discussed the war on Sunday with the leaders of the US, Italy, France and Germany, according to a Downing Street spokesperson.
The leaders had visited Kyiv on May 10, when major European powers endorsed an unconditional 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine.
After Sunday’s call, French President Emmanuel Macron said on X that Putin “must show he wants peace” by accepting the ceasefire proposal.
Last week, Trump said “nothing could happen” on a potential deal before he met directly with Putin.
Russia is steadily advancing on the battlefield but reportedly worries that Ukraine would use a pause in fighting to regroup and rearm, likely supplied by western nations.
In March, a group of 31 countries reinforced their support for Ukraine in what has been termed the “coalition of the willing”, led by the United Kingdom and France.
The initiative was announced by Sir Keir in London after Trump’s spat with Zelensky in the White House, where the US president accused his counterpart of “gambling with World War Three”.
