US President Donald Trump said the 2-hour phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 19 (local time) went "very well" and affirmed that negotiations between Russia and Ukraine will begin immediately towards a ceasefire and end the conflict.
In a post on the Truth Social platform after his talks with Mr. Putin, Mr. Trump wrote: "The negotiations between Russia and Ukraine will begin immediately".
Previously, under pressure from Mr Trump, Russian and Ukrainian delegations met in Istanbul last week - the first time since 2022 - but have not yet reached a specific ceasefire agreement.
According to Mr. Trump, after the call with President Putin, he held a joint call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the leaders of the European Union, France, Italy, Germany and Finland. In the call, he informed the leaders that negotiations would begin immediately.
Mr Trump also proposed the idea of holding talks in the Vatican, chaired by the new Pope Leo XIV. The VATICan, the Cardinals representative, has expressed great interest in hosting the negotiations, he said.
Referring to the content of the conversation with Mr. Putin, President Trump emphasized: "The tone and spirit of the conversation were excellent." He also said Russia wanted to conduct large-scale trade activities with the US after the conflict ended.
In addition, Mr. Trump said that Ukraine will benefit from trade opportunities in the process of rebuilding the country after the conflict.
Kiev has now said it is ready for a ceasefire, while Moscow remains convinced that some prerequisites must be met before reaching an agreement.
Mr Trump's proactive push for negotiations is seen as a remarkable development, opening up the possibility of restarting the peace process that has been stalled since 2022. However, there are still many doubts about the prospects of the negotiations in the context of many fundamental differences between the two sides.
