Donald Trump says he will be speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone on Monday about ending the war in Ukraine, saying the call would be about “stopping the ‘bloodbath'”.
In a post on Truth Social, the US president said the call would take place at 10:00 EDT (14:00 GMT) and he would then speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and the leaders of some Nato countries.
Russia and Ukraine were unable to reach any breakthrough when they held their first face-to-face talks in three years in Istanbul on Friday, although a prisoner swap was agreed.
Trump had offered to attend the talks in Turkey if Putin would also be there, but the Russian president declined to go.
Trump’s comments come after he suggested progress on ending the war would only happen if he and Putin held face-to-face talks.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to Russian news agencies that preparations were under way for a call between Putin and Trump on Monday. The two leaders have held a phone call before on the topic.
“The conversation is in the works,” Peskov told Tass news agency.
Trump had said on Truth Social: “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.”
European leaders have been calling for Russia to agree to a 30-day ceasefire in the conflict.
The US and Russian leaders are expected to discuss a ceasefire, as well as the possible summit between themselves.
Moscow has moved slower than Trump would like, but it welcomed the American efforts at mediation, in a call on Saturday between the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Following the talks in Istanbul, Ukraine also reiterated its call for a full and unconditional ceasefire.
According to a Ukrainian official, the Kremlin had made “new and unacceptable demands including insisting Kyiv withdraw its troops from large parts of its own territory”, he said, in exchange for a ceasefire.
The head of the Russian delegation, Putin aide Vladimir Medinsky, said they were satisfied with the talks and ready to continue contact.
Hours later, a Russian drone hit a passenger bus in the Sumy region, killing nine people – prompting Zelensky to demand stiffer sanctions on Moscow.
He said the attack on the bus was “a deliberate killing of civilians”. Russia has not commented, but state media reported that forces had hit a “military staging area” in Sumy province.
By BBC News
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