The Trump-Putin call came days after the first direct talks<\/a> between Russia and Ukraine since 2022 in Turkiye. Friday\u2019s talks in Istanbul yielded no breakthrough on a ceasefire, but the two sides agreed to a prisoner exchange<\/a>.<\/p>\n A US delegation led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio was also in Istanbul as part of the Trump administration\u2019s push to end the more than three-year war \u2013 Europe\u2019s worst since World War II.<\/p>\n Trump has been critical of his predecessor President Joe Biden\u2019s Ukraine policy, which shipped billions of dollars of weapons and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Some of the aid has already been cut by the Trump administration.<\/p>\n A day before the calls, Ukraine accused Russia of launching its largest drone attack of the war, killing at least one woman. Moscow has yet to respond to these allegations.<\/p>\n Putin said Trump on Monday presented his position on the prospects for a ceasefire. \u201cI noted that Russia also supports a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis as well. What we need now is to identify the most effective ways towards achieving peace,\u201d Putin said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Putin added that this memorandum would define \u201cthe principles of settlement [and] the timing of a possible peace agreement\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI would like to note that, on the whole, Russia\u2019s position is clear. The main thing for us is to eliminate the root causes of this crisis,\u201d Putin said. \u201cWe just need to determine the most effective ways to move towards peace.\u201d<\/p>\n Russia wants Ukraine to drop its efforts to join NATO and withdraw its troops from Ukrainian regions partially occupied by Russian forces \u2013 demands Kyiv has rejected.<\/p>\n Despite Trump\u2019s push for immediate talks, Moscow has not shown any rush to resolve the issue.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are no deadlines, and there cannot be any. It is clear that everyone wants to do this as quickly as possible, but of course, the devil is in the details,\u201d Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday, according to Russian news agencies.<\/p>\n Al Jazeera\u2019s Yulia Shapovalova, reporting from Moscow, said \u201cnot much\u201d was agreed to during the telephone call in terms of \u201cconcrete steps\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cHe [Putin] believes that the US \u2013 because of its influence \u2013 can resolve any problems,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The war began in February 2022 after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine<\/a>. A month later, Russia and Ukraine held talks in Turkiye, but they ended without any breakthrough.<\/p>\n Putin on Monday said Ukraine had \u201cthwarted\u201d those talks, but\u00a0 Zelenskyy said the 2022 negotiations fell apart because Russia demanded Ukraine surrender its long-range weaponry, make constitutional amendments to declare neutrality and concede Ukrainian territory that Russia captured during its invasion.<\/p>\n What else did Trump say?<\/p>\n \u201cI believe it went very well,\u201d the US president said after the call with Putin.<\/p>\n Trump has been trying to get through to his Russian counterpart since he returned to office in January. Monday marked the third lengthy call between the two presidents, and Trump has sent his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to meet Putin in Moscow several times.<\/p>\n As for Trump\u2019s relationship with Zelenskyy, it has often been testy. Trump has accused the Ukrainian president<\/a> of not wanting to end the war. In February, he publicly berated Zelenskyy<\/a> at the White House for being \u201cdisrespectful\u201d and \u201cgambling with World War III\u201d.<\/p>\n Shortly after Trump\u2019s inauguration, US representatives met separately with Russian and Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia as part of efforts to bring peace to Ukraine.<\/p>\n In a break with past administrations, Trump has sought to revive ties with Russia. In February, delegations from the US and Russia met in Saudi Arabia\u2019s Riyadh to improve their relations and move towards peace in Ukraine.<\/p>\n \u201cPresident Trump approaches diplomacy and engages in a very transactional manner with economics as the foundation and driving force behind international affairs,\u201d Keith Kellogg, Trump\u2019s special envoy for Russia and Ukraine, said in March.<\/p>\n Putin has made trade offers to Trump, saying in a state television interview in February that he is open to offering access to rare earth minerals to Trump, including from Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia.<\/p>\n The US president also wrote about the prospect of trade with Russia and Ukraine after the ceasefire.<\/p>\n \u201cRussia wants to do largescale TRADE with the United States when this catastrophic \u2018bloodbath\u2019 is over, and I agree. There is a tremendous opportunity for Russia to create massive amounts of jobs and wealth. Its potential is UNLIMITED. Likewise, Ukraine can be a great beneficiary on Trade, in the process of rebuilding its Country.\u201d<\/p>\n “Just completed my two hour call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. I believe it went very well\u2026” \u2013President Donald J. Trump pic.twitter.com\/trznsLpKjF<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 19, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Marina Miron, a postdoctoral researcher at the Defence Studies Department at King\u2019s College London, said the \u201cTrump administration will do whatever is in the US interest\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it\u2019s in the US interest to have better relations with Russia than Ukraine, then that\u2019s what\u2019s going to happen,\u201d she said, explaining that there are many things that the Americans can discuss with the Russians, including the Russian influence in the case of normalising relations with Iran.<\/p>\n \u201cUkraine doesn\u2019t have that same leverage,\u201d she said. The US \u201chas gotten essentially what it wanted from Ukraine\u201d, referring to the minerals deal signed on April 30 that gave the US preferential access to Ukraine\u2019s mineral resources.<\/p>\n How did Zelenskyy react?<\/p>\n Zelenskyy said he spoke to Trump twice on Monday. The first was a one-on-one call with Trump, the Ukrainian leader posted on X, adding that the second time was a group call involving the European leaders.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the beginning of our bilateral conversation, I reaffirmed to President Trump that Ukraine is ready for a full and unconditional ceasefire, as has spoken about, particularly the United States,\u201d Zelenskyy wrote. \u201cIt is important not to dilute this proposal.\u201d<\/p>\n If Russia is not ready for a ceasefire, Zelenskyy wrote, sanctions on Russia should be scaled up. \u201cPressure on Russia will push it toward real peace \u2013 this is obvious to everyone around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRussia must end the war it started, and it can begin doing so any day. Ukraine has always been ready for peace.\u201d<\/p>\n On Tuesday, the European Union and United Kingdom announced sanctions against Russia after the Trump-Putin call ended without a breakthrough.<\/p>\n Speaking to reporters in Kyiv late on Monday, Zelenskyy said he is ready to sign a memorandum with Russia that contains provisions for a ceasefire.<\/p>\n \u201cThere could be a respective memorandum in the bilateral format, which may then lead to a roadmap toward ending the war, that is, toward a full agreement. This memorandum, supported by both countries, would include provisions for a ceasefire,\u201d Zelenskyy said.<\/p>\n I spoke with @POTUS<\/a> twice today. First, we had a one-on-one call before his conversation with the head of Russia, and later we spoke together with President Trump and European leaders President @EmmanuelMacron<\/a>, Prime Minister @GiorgiaMeloni<\/a>, Federal Chancellor @bundeskanzler<\/a>,\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/mm6a0Pro84<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Volodymyr Zelenskyy \/ \u0412\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043c\u0438\u0440 \u0417\u0435\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0438\u0439 (@ZelenskyyUa) May 19, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Where does the EU stand?<\/p>\n German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, French President Emmanuel Macron, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen were on the second call between Trump and Zelenskyy.<\/p>\n \u201cTogether with European leaders, we also discussed possible next steps \u2013 in particular, meetings between negotiators and an objective assessment of each side\u2019s proposals. Every proposal at the table deserves an honest evaluation, that\u2019s why the negotiation process must involve both American and European representatives at the appropriate level,\u201d Zelenskyy wrote in his X post.<\/p>\n Ukraine has sought US involvement in the talks. Washington has been its largest weapons supplier<\/a> since the Russian invasion and has also provided Kyiv diplomatic support at the United Nations.<\/a><\/p>\n But the Trump administration does not want to provide security guarantees to Ukraine and instead wants European nations to step up their defence contributions.<\/p>\n On Monday, Merz wrote on X: \u201cWe will closely support Ukraine on its path toward a ceasefire.\u201d<\/p>\n Meloni also expressed her support for \u201can immediate start of negotiations between the parties that can lead to a ceasefire as soon as possible\u201d.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1747752555_177_2025-05-18T065202Z_268212822_RC24KEAW5ROX_RTRMADP_3_UKRAINE-CRISIS-ATTACK-KYIV-1747732249.jpg\")
A resident carries a cat at the site of a house heavily damaged by a Russian drone strike outside of Kyiv on May 18 [Valentyn Ogirenko\/Reuters]
\nWhat did Russia agree to?<\/p>\n\n
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