The Russian and US presidents spoke on phone for over two hours
FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin. © Sputnik / Alexander Kazakov
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone with his US counterpart, Donald Trump. The conversation on Monday focused on the Ukraine conflict and a possible ceasefire between Moscow and Kiev.
The phone call was initially announced by Trump on Saturday. The US president said the discussion will focus on “stopping the ‘bloodbath’” between Russia and Ukraine, as well as on bilateral trade issues.
Moscow has described the upcoming conversation between the two presidents as “important,” with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stating the call will be based on the results of the recent Turkish-mediated meeting between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul. Russia welcomes the US mediation role and sees the diplomatic path to resolving the Ukraine conflict as preferable, Peskov stressed on Monday.
“We highly value the United States’ mediating efforts – if they truly help us achieve our objectives by peaceful means,” he said.
Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy and a key figure behind kickstarting the Ukraine peace process, has expressed hope that the call will be “very successful” and can help clear “some of the logjam” in the negotiations.
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19 May 2025
22:39 GMT
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that during their phone call, the US and Russian presidents discussed the restoration of direct contacts between Moscow and Kiev, laying the groundwork for further negotiations and the development of an initial memorandum aimed at resolving the conflict.
The draft memorandum will be jointly formulated by Russia and Ukraine, Peskov noted, emphasizing that “the devil is in the details” and that no concrete deadlines have been set. He described the drafting process as a “complex task” that will require time and careful coordination between the two sides.
The United States, he added, remains actively involved in the mediation efforts. All parties, including Moscow, are interested in a swift resolution to the crisis, Peskov said, stressing that Russia’s primary goal is to eliminate the root causes of the conflict.
- 22:16 GMT
Washington should never have intervened in the Ukraine conflict, President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House, blaming the administration of his predecessor Joe Biden for fueling the crisis and spending “hundreds of billions” of US taxpayer dollars to arm Kiev.
“This is not our war. This is not my war… I mean, we got ourselves entangled in something that we shouldn’t have been involved in. And we would have been a lot better off — and maybe the whole thing would have been better off — because it can’t be much worse. It’s a real mess,” Trump said.
“Again, this was a European situation. It should have remained a European situation. But we got involved — much more than Europe did — because the past administration felt very strongly that we should… We gave massive amounts, I think record setting amounts… both weaponry and money,” he added.
- 20:44 GMT
Russia and the US “can and will be great partners on economic and investment cooperation,” Vladimir Putin’s investment envoy and one of the key figures in the ongoing contacts between the two nations, Kirill Dmitriev, wrote on X in the aftermath of the talks.
🇷🇺🇺🇸 can and will be great partners on economic and investment cooperation for the benefit of 🇷🇺🇺🇸 and 🌎. https://t.co/oUQXuBoXnr
— Kirill A. Dmitriev (@kadmitriev) May 19, 2025
- 20:43 GMT
Kiev is seeking to “stop the war” but will not bow to any Russian “ultimatums,” Vladimir Zelensky has said. The country will not withdraw its troops from the four-formerly Ukrainian regions, as demanded by Moscow, he stressed, signaling that Ukraine’s NATO aspirations – another key issue repeatedly outlined by Russia – were not negotiable either.
- 20:16 GMT
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has confirmed he spoke twice in the day with Donald Trump – ahead and after the US president’s conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
- 19:49 GMT
His phone call with Russia’s president shows that certain “progress has been made,” US President Donald Trump said.
“Hopefully we did something,” Trump stated, speaking from the White House’s Rose Garden. “We spoke to the heads of most of the European nations, and we’re trying to get that whole thing wrapped up,” he added.
- 19:17 GMT
Following the Trump-Putin phone call, EU countries agreed to coordinate their efforts and continue to support Ukraine, German government spokesman Stefan Kornelius said. These measures include putting more “pressure” on Russia “by means of sanctions,” he added.
- 18:53 GMT
Trump and Putin discussed “the future of the US-Russia relations,” Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said.
“I can say that President Trump spoke quite emotionally about the prospects for these relations. He repeatedly emphasized that he is in favor of mutually beneficial relations with Russia, given its role in the world and the place it occupies in the [global] economy,” he stated.
- 18:29 GMT
During the conversation, Putin and Trump discussed a potential prisoner swap between Russia and the US involving nine individuals from each side, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov has revealed.
- 18:02 GMT
Russia “wants to do large-scale TRADE” with the US, Donald Trump has claimed, adding that the potential settlement of the conflict would help Ukraine to become “a great beneficiary” of trade as well.
“There is a tremendous opportunity for Russia to create massive amounts of jobs and wealth. Its potential is UNLIMITED,” Trump wrote.
"Just completed my two hour call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. I believe it went very well…" –President Donald J. Trump pic.twitter.com/trznsLpKjF
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 19, 2025
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