JD Vance, Donald Trump’s vice president, has shared what he thinks he’ll say to Vladimir Putin today. Ivor Bennett, our Moscow correspondent, explains the Kremlin’s likely approach. Watch a White House news briefing live and follow the latest below.
Monday 19 May 2025 14:30, UK
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Karoline Leavitt has now given a little more detail on Donald Trump’s call with Vladimir Putin.
She’s said she “doesn’t want to get ahead of any conversations”, but did say Trump will call Volodymyr Zelenskyy after speaking with Putin.
“I think I can summarise the president’s foreign policy agenda with two words – America first,” she added.
“And that means putting the American people and the American taxpayer first.
“And that’s why the president is moving as quickly as he possibly can and working overtime to end these conflicts in both Israel and in Gaza and also the Russia-Ukraine war.”
She added: “You will hear directly from the president or me after those calls conclude today.”
Coming away from the news briefing at the White House briefly, we’ve just had an update from the US vice president.
JD Vance has just spoken out on the Ukraine war – warning if Russia is not “willing to engage” then “eventually, the US has to say this is not our war”.
He added Vladimir Putin – who is due to speak to Donald Trump in the next 40 minutes – “does not seem to know” how to get out of the war.
“We realise there’s a bit of an impasse here,” he told reporters as he prepared to depart Italy following his meeting with Pope Leo.
“And I think the president’s going to say to president Putin: ‘Look, are you serious? Are you real about this?'”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is due to hold her regular news briefing now.
It comes an hour before Donald Trump’s scheduled call with Vladimir Putin.
You can watch live at the top of this page and we’ll bring you any text updates relevant to the war in Ukraine here.
Russian authorities have outlawed human rights group Amnesty International as an “undesirable organisation” (see 11.24).
That decision, announced by the Russian prosecutor general’s office, is just the latest crackdown on critics, journalists and activists.
In practice, these are the two key outcomes:
That second point even means anyone caught sharing Amnesty content on social media could face time behind bars.
Amnesty is far from the first to fall foul of Russia, with the state’s list of “undesirable organisations” covering 223 entities.
These include US-funded broadcaster RFE/RL and international environmental organisation Greenpeace.
Why Amnesty?
Amnesty International, launched in 1961, documents and reports human rights violations around the globe and campaigns for the release of those deemed unjustly imprisoned.
It has published reports on Russia’s war in Ukraine, accusing Moscow of crimes against humanity.
Domestically, it has spoken out against the Kremlin’s crackdown on dissent, which has swept up thousands of people in recent years.
Amnesty has not commented on the move yet.
Russia, meanwhile, accused Amnesty 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,” Russia said.
The “neo-Nazi” accusation is seen in the West and other countries as baseless propaganda.
The UK and EU have agreed a post-Brexit reset deal, with a summit in London today described as “historic” by the bloc.
What does this mean for Ukraine?
According to the European Commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, this represents a boost for Kyiv.
That’s because the deal also reinforces cooperation in security and defence, which she said is the “first step” towards UK participation in Europe’s defence investment programme.
“This will create new opportunities, of course, for our defence industries and open the option for stronger, more coordinated support also for Ukraine.”
By Ivor Bennett, Moscow correspondent
Judging by his spokesman’s comments, it appears Vladimir Putin has no intention of giving any meaningful ground in his conversation with Donald Trump later today.
“If US mediation helps achieve the goals of the SMO [special military operation] by peaceful means, Russia would prefer this,” was the key line from Dmitry Peskov’s statements to Russian reporters earlier.
It makes it clear that Russia’s goals haven’t changed – that Ukraine never joins NATO and that Russia keeps the four Ukrainian territories it occupies.
And it’s saying that either Kyiv (and the US) gives those things up willingly, or Moscow takes them by force.
30-day truce silence
I think Putin will have to give Trump something, though, or the appearance of a concession at least.
All the pressure now is on Moscow, and I think the Kremlin does want to keep the White House on side to ensure that US-Russia relations continue to soften.
But I doubt it’ll be a full ceasefire that Russia says Ukraine would use to rearm and will only agree to one if Western military support to Ukraine stops.
What’s more, it’s two months since Trump proposed a 30-day truce.
Putin hasn’t agreed to one yet, so why would he now?
Climbdown planned?
The call between the leaders comes after an uptick in aggression from Moscow.
Sunday saw Russia’s largest drone attack of the war so far, and Ukraine also claimed that Russia was going to test-fire an intercontinental ballistic missile yesterday.
It could be a way to intimidate the West, and assert Russia’s dominance.
Or it could be a way for Putin to give himself something to climb down from, and then sell as a concession to Trump.
The Vatican has now given some more detail on the Pope’s early-morning meeting with the US vice president, which we reported at 9.09.
“There was an exchange of views on some current international issues, calling for respect for humanitarian law and international law in areas of conflict and for a negotiated solution between the parties involved,” the Vatican has said.
JD Vance was one of the last foreign officials to meet with Leo’s predecessor Francis before the Argentine pope’s death on 21 April.
The two had tangled over migration, with Francis publicly rebuking Donald Trump’s administration over its deportation plan and correcting Vance’s theological justification for it.
Watch below: Does a new American pope help Ukraine?
Russia has claimed its forces have taken two villages in Ukraine, according to state news agency RIA.
The Russian outlet cites the defence ministry, which names the village of Novoolenivka in the eastern Donetsk region, and Marine, in Sumy.
Russia has been pushing through Ukraine’s industrial east since the beginning of its invasion in February 2022.
Its troops recently began pushing into the Sumy region after claiming they had ousted Kyiv’s forces from Russia’s neighbouring Kursk region.
Global human rights charity Amnesty International has been accused of “Russophobia” by Russia’s prosecutor general.
The group highlights human rights abuses around the world and has been critical of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and domestic crackdown.
Rights groups consistently rank Russia as among the most repressive countries in the world.
In a report from the prosecutor general’s office, Russia has now said Amnesty “positions itself as an active conductor of human rights protection in the world”, in comments cited by news agency Interfax.
“In reality, the London headquarters of AIL [Amnesty International Limited] is the centre for preparing global Russophobic projects paid for by accomplices of the [Kyiv] regime,” it added, also describing the charity as an “undesirable organisation”.
The designation mandates penalties of up to five years in prison for citizens working with or funding Amnesty.
At least two people have been killed and another 13 injured over the past day in Ukraine, according to authorities (see 10.05).
These pictures from Kherson and Donetsk, released by emergency services, show debris and damage after reported Russian attacks.
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