Donald Trump claimed that Russia and Ukraine would “immediately” begin peace talks following a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, despite Putin rejecting Trump’s call for an unconditional ceasefire.
Trump, who has repeatedly vowed to resolve the war within 24 hours if re-elected, portrayed the two-hour conversation as a major breakthrough in his push to end the conflict. However, Putin took a more cautious stance, expressing willingness to work with Kyiv on a memorandum to end the war launched by Moscow in February 2022 but emphasized that both sides would need to make compromises.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who recently repaired strained relations with Trump after a tense Oval Office meeting, urged the former U.S. president in a separate call not to take any decisions “without us.”
Trump has placed significant emphasis on his personal rapport with Putin as the key to brokering a peace deal, though his patience appears to be wearing thin over the Russian leader’s reluctance to commit.
“I believe it went very well,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform after the call. “Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the war.”
He later added that he believed Putin was ready for a ceasefire.
