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The US and Russian presidents are set to speak at 3pm in a fresh bid to end the conflict started by Putin’s invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago
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Donald Trump is holding crunch talks with Vladimir Putin today to speed up ceasefire efforts after Western leaders demanded an immediate truce.
The 3pm phone call to end the “bloodbath” comes after Trump last week vowed to meet Putin “as soon as we can” during a diplomatic fiasco prompted by the Russian president shunning peace talks in Turkey.
The US president’s renewed effort to end the war in Ukraine will also include calls to Nato leaders and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, but the Trump administration has insisted Russia and the US are the only ones who can bring an end to the conflict.
“The subjects of the call will be stopping the ‘bloodbath’ that is killing, on average, more than 5000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers a week, and trade,” Trump wrote on TruthSocial.
A flurry of diplomatic activity began when Mr Zelensky met with US vice president JD Vance, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and European leaders in Rome yesterday, intensifying his efforts ahead of Trump’s call with Putin.
Meanwhile, Kyiv’s military intelligence agency has warned Russia could test-launch its intercontinental ballistic missile in a drill to intimidate Ukraine. Russia also carried out its largest drone attack since the start of the war on Sunday and fired at least 273 drones, killing one woman.
Let’s turn to Washington D.C., where White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is currently hosting a press conference.
Asked about why Donald Trump has not ended wars in Gaza and Ukraine – while the US continues to channel money towards these regions – Ms Leavitt states that Donald Trump’s foreign policy is “America first”.
“The president is moving as quickly as he possibly can to end these conflicts in Israel and Gaza and also the Russia-Ukraine war,” she added.
He plans to call Volodymyr Zelensky after a call with Vladimir Putin this afternoon concludes, Ms Leavitt says.
“I don’t want to get ahead of those very important conversations but of course you will hear directly from the president or me after those calls conclude today.”
As news rolled in on Sunday of the Romanian election result, the EU breathed a sigh of relief.
The liberal Bucharest Mayor, Nicusor Dan, saw off nationalist George Simion, a far-right and pro-Russian candidate who wanted to halt all support for Ukraine.
But no leader would have been more relieved than Volodymyr Zelensky, after Ukraine’s neighbour to the south elected a pro-Ukraine president for the next five years.
Mr Zelensky has now congratulated Mr Simion, saying it is “essential that Romania continues to develop, and that we all cooperate together in our region and across Europe”.
He added: “This is a country on which much depends when it comes to security issues. We are deeply grateful for Romania’s contribution to protecting the lives of our people. It is important that support for Ukraine continues. Romania understands how crucial the struggle for freedom and justice is.”
The Ukrainian president invited his new Romanian counterpart to Kyiv.
Moscow and Kyiv’s meeting in Istanbul on Thursday highlighted the “stark difference” between the two countries, according to Ukraine’s foreign minister.
Andrii Sybiha took to X to make the comments, hours before Donald Trump is set to hold a critical phone call with Vladimir Putin which will discuss the results of the Istanbul talks.
“Ukraine is forward-looking, focused on the full and immediate ceasefire to kickstart the real peace process,” Mr Sybiha said.
Russia, he added, is “completely focussed on the past, rejecting the ceasefire and instead talking constantly about the 2022 Istanbul meetings, attempting to make the same absurd demands as three years ago”.
Mr Sybiha stressed that pressure on Russia “must be increased” for this reason, so that Moscow understands the “consequences of impeding the peace process”.
Three days ago, the world trained its gaze on Turkey for what many hoped would be a historic day of diplomacy.
By close of Friday, however, hopes had been dashed after direct Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul – the first such talks in three years – failed to bear fruit in terms of peace in Ukraine. A series of other meetings were also held among diplomats and officials from Europe and the US.
These talks, which exposed a significant chasm between Kyiv and Moscow in their visions of a peace agreement, will serve as a starting point when Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin hold a phone call at 3pm today.
“The conversation is important, taking into account the negotiations held in Istanbul,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov Peskov said. “As for the talks, we [in the Kremlin] have already said everything we could, we underscored the basic points.”
Russian negotiators on Friday made a series of demands described as unacceptable by Kyiv.
According to Bloomberg, the Moscow delegation demanded that Ukraine:
Exactly where Mr Trump currently stands on the first two demands is unclear, but Washington has offered to legally recognise Russian control over Crimea in peace proposals it made in April.
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky met with US vice president JD Vance, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and European leaders in Rome yesterday, as he intensified his efforts ahead of Donald Trump’s on call with Vladimir Putin.
The Ukrainian president said on X that during his talks with the American officials, they discussed the negotiations in Turkey and that “the Russians sent a low level delegation of non-decision-makers”.
He also said he stressed that Ukraine is engaged in “real diplomacy” to have a ceasefire.
“We have also touched upon the need for sanctions against Russia, bilateral trade, defence cooperation, battlefield situation and upcoming prisoners exchange,” Mr Zelensky said.
“Pressure is needed against Russia until they are eager to stop the war,” he said.
Dmytro Guzha was returning home with his wife Elena when he felt the explosion beneath his feet – and then nothing.
“After that, I didn’t hear or see anything at all,” the 49-year-old says. He regained consciousness a few minutes later and his focus turned to Elena.
“I was really worried about my wife because I saw her and she didn’t move. Then I wanted to try to get closer to her but I couldn’t because my leg didn’t move.” That was the result of the explosion that had ripped through his lower half.
The Ukrainian city of Chuhuiv, in the northeastern region of Kharkiv, faced heavy Russian bombardment in the opening weeks of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, which started on 24 February 2022. Guzha could see and hear explosions in the air as he and Elena took their ill-fated trip to the bakery.
Bryony Gooch reports:
Pope Leo and US vice president JD Vance have met in what has been described by the Vatican as an “exchange of views” on contentious issues surrounding Gaza and Ukraine.
The newly appointed pontiff – who as a cardinal was repeatedly critical of Trump administration policies, as well as Vance’s take on christianity – met with the vice president the morning after his inaugural mass.
Despite Pope Leo’s previous criticism, the Holy See’s press office described Monday’s meeting, in which collaboration between the church and the US government was discussed, as “cordial”.
“Finally, there was an exchange of views on some current international issues, during which hope was expressed that humanitarian law and international law be respected in areas of conflict and that there be a negotiated solution between the parties involved,” the Vatican press office said.
It follows Trump’s proposal to turn the Gaza strip into a “riviera” amid Israel’s push to force Palestinians from the territory, as well as the US government’s support for Ukraine to cede territory to Russia to bring about peace.
Russia has banned human rights group Amnesty International as an “undesirable organisation”.
The charity, Moscow says, has been backing Ukraine against Russia. Moscow routinely bans organisations critical of the Kremlin regime’s actions, including US-government funded Radio Free Europe, Greenpeace, and the Elton John Aids Foundation, which it banned last month for its LGBTQ+ advocacy.
Amnesty International, which was founded in 1961 and based in London, campaigns for human rights around the world, including for those it designates prisoners of conscience.
In its statement, Russia’s prosecutor general accused the organisation of “doing everything possible to intensify the military confrontation in the region. They justify the crimes of Ukrainian neo-Nazis, call for an increase in their funding, and insist on the political and economic isolation of our country.”
Russian officials regularly accuse Ukraine of being dominated by “neo-Nazis”, an accusation seen by Kyiv, the West and other countries as baseless propaganda.
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