Russia's President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump talk during a bilateral meeting at the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan, June 28, 2019.Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump said Russia and Ukraine will begin negotiating a ceasefire right away, after a two-hour phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin that did not seem to result in any concessions on Moscow’s part.
Mr. Trump posted on social media Monday that conditions of a ceasefire would be negotiated between the two countries, and that the Vatican, represented by the Pope, had indicated it is interested in hosting those discussions. He later told reporters that he believes “something is going to happen,” but that there are “very big egos involved.”
And he said that if a ceasefire is not agreed upon, he would back away, and the war would continue: “This is a European situation. It should have remained a European situation,” he told reporters.
Mr. Trump said in his social media post that “Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War. The conditions for that will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be, because they know details of a negotiation that nobody else would be aware of.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Putin told reporters that Russia was ready to work with Ukraine on a “memorandum” about a future peace accord and thanked Mr. Trump for supporting direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv.
But Mr. Putin also signalled that Russia was not prepared to make significant concessions: “The main thing for us is to eliminate the root causes of this crisis,” he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a statement posted to social media that he spoke with Mr. Trump twice on Monday: once before Mr. Trump’s call with Mr. Putin, and again after the call when Mr. Trump briefed him and other European leaders.
“This is a defining moment. The world can now see whether its leaders are truly capable of securing a ceasefire and achieving real, lasting peace,” Mr. Zelensky wrote. He said he reaffirmed to Mr. Trump that Ukraine is ready for “a full and unconditional ceasefire,” in line with the U.S. President.
“It is important not to dilute this proposal. If the Russians are not ready to stop the killings, there must be stronger sanctions. Pressure on Russia will push it toward real peace – this is obvious to everyone around the world.”
Mr. Trump has previously threatened sanctions on Russia and demanded an immediate ceasefire. At other times, he has blamed Ukraine for starting the war. On Monday, he repeatedly said that he believes Mr. Putin wants to end it.
When Mr. Trump was asked by reporters why he didn’t increase sanctions on Russia, he said he believes there is a chance of “getting something done,” and that he doesn’t want to make the situation worse.
Mr. Zelensky said he also reiterated that Ukraine is ready for direct negotiations with Russia, whether they are facilitated by Turkey, the Vatican or Switzerland.
In conversation with European leaders, he said, they also discussed possible next steps, such as meetings between negotiators and assessments of each side‘s proposals.
“Every proposal at the table deserves an honest evaluation, that’s why the negotiation process must involve both American and European representatives at the appropriate level,” Mr. Zelensky said.
“It is crucial for all of us that the United States does not distance itself from the talks and the pursuit of peace, because the only one who benefits from that is Putin.”
He added: “Russia must end the war it started, and it can begin doing so any day. Ukraine has always been ready for peace.”
Russian and Ukrainian officials met in Istanbul last week, marking their first face-to-face meeting since March, 2022. They agreed to a large prisoner exchange but remained at odds on conditions to end Russia’s war.
Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social that the “tone and spirit” of Monday’s conversation with Mr. Putin was excellent, and that if it wasn’t, he would have said so. He said Russia wants to do significant trade with the United States when “this catastrophic ‘bloodbath’ ” is over, and that Ukraine could also benefit.
Mr. Trump said the European leaders he briefed after the call were Mr. Zelensky, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Finnish President Alexander Stubb.
Russia has so far rejected calls from Ukraine and its allies to agree to a 30-day ceasefire.
Michael Bociurkiw, global affairs analyst and senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said he believes that Mr. Putin’s rhetoric around eliminating “root causes” means that he will string out the war as long as possible and push for the capitulation of Ukraine.
He said Russia wants to push for its maximalist demands.
For Russia, that means, among other demands, Ukraine ceding territory, abandoning its ambitions to join NATO, limiting the size of its army and changing its constitution.
“In the meantime, Putin will use this time to continue grabbing more territory but also inflicting as much damage on Ukrainian cities, towns and villages as possible,” Mr. Bociurkiw said.
With a report from Reuters