KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump mentioned he plans to talk by telephone Monday with Russian chief Vladimir Putin, adopted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and leaders of assorted NATO international locations, about ending the war in Ukraine.
Trump mentioned the decision with Putin will probably be about stopping the “massacre” in Ukraine.
“Hopefully it will likely be a productive day, a ceasefire will happen, and this very violent warfare, a warfare that ought to have by no means occurred, will finish,” Trump wrote Saturday in a publish on his social networking web site Truth Social.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed in feedback to Russian media that preparations had been underway for Monday’s name.
Trump’s remarks got here a day after the primary direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv in years didn’t yield a ceasefire. Putin had spurned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s offer to fulfill face-to-face in Turkey after he himself proposed direct negotiations — though not on the presidential stage — as a substitute for a 30-day ceasefire urged by Ukraine and its Western allies, together with the U.S.
Additionally on Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had a telephone name together with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov. Throughout a go to to Rome, Rubio advised that the Vatican may very well be a venue for Russia-Ukraine peace talks.
In Ukraine, a northeastern city declared a interval of mourning after a Russian drone hit a bus evacuating civilians from front-line areas, killing 9 folks, Ukrainian officers mentioned. The strike got here hours after the Russian and Ukrainian delegations left Istanbul, after agreeing to what could be the most important prisoner swap so far between the combatants.
Zelenskyy faces a bet as talks stall
The talks in Istanbul on Friday broke up after lower than two hours with no ceasefire, though each side agreed on exchanging 1,000 prisoners of warfare every, in line with the heads of each delegations. Ukraine’s intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, mentioned on Ukrainian tv Saturday that the trade might occur as early as subsequent week.
However the Kremlin has pushed again towards a proposal by Ukraine and its Western allies for a short lived ceasefire as a primary step towards a peaceable settlement, and the events remained far aside on key circumstances for ending the combating.
Since U.S.-brokered talks started in March, Ukraine’s strategy has been to persuade the Trump administration that Putin is unreliable, and that Kyiv is severe about peace. Trump has expressed frustration with the stalled talks and threatened to desert his efforts if outcomes aren’t achieved.
He has additionally mentioned that no peace could be reached till he held a nose to nose assembly with Putin. On Friday, Trump instructed reporters after boarding Air Drive One to return to Washington from Abu Dhabi that he could name Putin quickly.
“He and I’ll meet, and I feel we’ll remedy it, or possibly not,” Trump mentioned. “At the very least we’ll know.”
The political theatrics are underscored by stark realities on the ground in Ukraine. In a warfare of attrition towards Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s place is poised to develop weaker as time goes on, until highly effective sanctions are imposed towards Moscow and the U.S. continues arms deliveries.
Zelenskyy mentioned that he had mentioned the result of the talks with Trump and the leaders of France, Germany, Britain and Poland. In an X publish from a European management assembly in Albania on Friday, Zelenskyy urged “powerful sanctions” towards Moscow if it rejects “a full and unconditional ceasefire and an finish to killings.”
Peskov on Saturday held open the potential for Putin holding talks with Zelenskyy, offering the agreed prisoner swap goes forward, and if the Russian and Ukrainian delegations reached unspecified additional “agreements.”
Peskov additionally instructed reporters that Moscow will current Ukraine with an inventory of circumstances for a ceasefire, however gave no timeframe, or say what wanted to occur earlier than Zelenskyy and Putin can meet.
LEON NEAL through Getty Photos
A city in mourning
In Ukraine, 9 civilians had been killed and 7 others had been wounded when a Russian drone struck a bus evacuating folks from Bilopillia, a city round 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Russia’s border, in line with native Gov. Oleh Hryhorov and Ukraine’s nationwide police. The Related Press couldn’t independently confirm the stories. There was no speedy remark from Moscow.
Zelenskyy described the assault as “deliberate killing of civilians,” including in a publish on the Telegram messaging app that “Russians might scarcely not notice what sort of automobile they had been hitting.”
The native media outlet Suspilne mentioned that the passengers on the bus had been being evacuated from the city when the strike occurred. Authorities are working to establish a few of the victims, most of them older ladies.
Local people chief Yurii Zarko known as the day “Black Saturday,” and mourning was declared within the city by way of Monday.
Zelenskyy lamented the missed alternative from Friday’s peace talks, saying that “Ukraine has lengthy proposed this — a full and unconditional ceasefire with a purpose to save lives.”
Ukraine’s European allies strongly condemned the assault. U.Ok. International Secretary David Lammy mentioned that he was “appalled” by it. “If Putin is severe about peace, Russia should conform to a full and speedy ceasefire, as Ukraine has executed,” he wrote on X.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, talking at a joint information convention with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, condemned Russia for “persevering with their assaults at the moment with undiminished ferocity.” He vowed to proceed to extend the stress on Moscow with added sanctions.
Joanna Kozlowska reported from London. Hanna Arhirova in Istanbul, Llazar Semini in Tirana, Albania, and Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin contributed to this report.
