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Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are set to hold a critical phone call today as the West pushes for ceasefire to end the “bloodbath” of the war in Ukraine.
“HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE A PRODUCTIVE DAY,” Trump said on his TruthSocial platform, announcing the phone call.
But Monday’s discussion between the US and Russian leaders, happening at 3pm BST, comes within hours of Moscow launching its largest drone strike against Ukraine and a warning from Kyiv of a Russian ballistic missile test.
As of 8am on Monday Russia had launched 273 drones at Ukrainian cities, Ukraine’s Air Force said, killed a 28-year-old woman and injuring three others, including a four-year-old.
European leaders have repeatedly accused Putin of manipulating ceasefire proposals to achieve his own ends while Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky warned Trump last week the Russian president lies.
Here is what we know so far about the phone call and what it could mean for the war.
Phone call comes after Russia-Ukraine talks
Last week, delegations from Russia and Ukraine met for the first direct peace talks between the countries in three years.
Despite earlier hopes of a three-way meeting between Trump, Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky, the Russian president decided to send a low-level team of negotiators to Turkey, drawing criticism from the Ukrainian president and other world leaders.
After a short meeting in Istanbul on Friday, Russia and Ukraine agreed to a 1000-prisoner exchange and to hold further direct talks, but failed to agree to any ceasefire.
Shortly before the meeting, Trump said he knew Putin would have only gone to the talks if he did.
“I said, If I don't go, I guarantee Putin [won’t be] going,” Trump said as he prepared to return to the US from his Middle East visit.
Trump added he still planned to meet up with Putin “as soon as we can set it up”.
Russia's demands remain a sticking point for Kyiv
Zelensky has repeatedly said Ukraine is ready for a full 30-day ceasefire and called on western leaders including Trump to increase sanctions on Putin if Russia failed to agree to that proposal.
No such agreement was reached on Friday, with a Ukrainian diplomat saying after the meeting that Russia had presented “unacceptable conditions” that were “non-starters” for Kyiv, including the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from large parts of the country.
Zelensky has also previously said that Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, remains part of Ukraine, signalling he is not willing to cede the territory to Moscow as part of peace deal.
The head of Russia’s delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, said he had “taken note” of the request for direct talks between Zelensky and Putin.
Trump’s stance on the war
The Trump administration has repeatedly said Ukraine would have to cede territory as part of any peace deal. Last month Trump lashed out at the Ukrainian leader after Zelensky warned that Kyiv would not recognise Russia's occupation of Crimea under any agreement.
The US president angrily retorted: “He has nothing to boast about! The situation for Ukraine is dire – he can have peace or he can fight for another three years before losing the whole country.”
While the US president said he expected no ceasefire from Friday’s meeting in Turkey, he still wants the war to end.
Trump said he hoped Monday would be a “productive day” of talks with world leaders, Zelensky and Putin in the work towards a truce.
“I WILL BE SPEAKING, BY TELEPHONE, TO PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN OF RUSSIA ON MONDAY, AT 10:00 A.M. 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,” he said on his TruthSocial platform.
“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.”
Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said it would be a “very successful call”.
"His sensibilities are that he's got to get on the phone with President Putin, and that is going to clear up some of the logjam and get us to the place that we need to get to," he said.
Call comes amid a changing relationship between Trump and Putin
Trump has had an at-times controversial take on the war, often putting the blame on Ukraine for failures to end it.
As recently as last month, he blamed Ukraine for starting the war. He made similar comments in February and called Zelensky a “dictator without elections”, a position that drew praise from the Kremlin.
But Trump also wants the war to end, and has appeared to grow increasingly frustrated that no peace deal has been reached.
The US president has regularly lamented the loss of “more than 5,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers a week”, and has appeared to soften his stance on Ukraine after an extraordinary meeting with Zelensky in the Vatican, ahead of Pope Francis’s funeral.
Following that meeting, he cast doubt on Putin’s willingness to end the war.
“There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days. It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war,” Trump posted on his social media platform after leaving Italy.
“He's just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”
English (US) ·