Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a Security Council meeting via videoconference at the Kremlin in Moscow, Friday. Pavel Byrkin/Sputnik Kremlin/AP hide caption
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Pavel Byrkin/Sputnik Kremlin/AP
MOSCOW — President Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin for more than two hours on Monday, as part of a flurry of phone calls to negotiate a ceasefire in Russia’s war in Ukraine. Trump also had calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders.
Putin did not agree to an immediate ceasefire, long sought by Ukraine, the U.S. and many NATO countries. But both the Kremlin leader and Trump said after the call that Russia and Ukraine would start talks toward a future peace. Trump and Italy’s government said the Vatican might host the negotiations.
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Russia “is ready to work with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum on a possible future peace accord, defining a number of positions, such as, for example, the principles of a settlement, the timing of a possible peace agreement,” Putin said in a briefing in the southern Russian resort city of Sochi. Putin called the conversation “constructive” and thanked Trump for his diplomatic efforts.
Trump was upbeat in a social media post after talking to Putin. “The tone and spirit of the conversation were excellent,” he said, adding, “Russia wants to do largescale TRADE with the United States when this catastrophic ‘bloodbath’ is over, and I agree.”
But speaking later to reporters, Trump warned again that he could back out of the process. “I’ll tell you big egos involved, but I think something’s going to happen. And if it doesn’t, I just back away, and they’re going to have to keep going again,” he said. Trump also said holding talks at the Vatican could give them “extra significance” and help things along.
Monday’s telephone diplomacy followed rare direct talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul on Friday, where both sides said they would each exchange 1,000 prisoners of war but failed to agree on an immediate ceasefire.
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Putin skipped that meeting in Turkey, despite having called for it to happen and Zelenskyy challenging Putin to meet him there.
Since then, Russia has kept up the military pressure on Ukraine, launching mass drone attacks throughout the weekend that killed at least 11 people. The attacks included a barrage on Sunday that Ukrainian authorities said was the largest since the conflict began.
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Earlier Monday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump would call Zelenskyy after his call with Putin.
But Zelenskyy said he spoke by phone with Trump one-on-one before Trump’s call with Putin, and again afterward along with the leaders of France, Italy, Germany, Finland and the European Commission.
“I asked him [Trump] before his conversation with Putin not to make decisions about Ukraine without us,” Zelenskyy said in a news briefing Monday.
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Zelenskyy met with Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Rome on Sunday, and said he urged the administration to take a tough stance on Moscow. On Monday, the Ukrainian leader reiterated his call to keep pushing Moscow to agree to a ceasefire.
“If the Russians are not ready to stop the killings, there must be stronger sanctions,” Zelenskyy said in a social media post. “Pressure on Russia will push it toward real peace – this is obvious to everyone around the world.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who has threatened further sanctions on Russia, reiterated the European Union executive’s support for Zelenskyy “to achieve lasting peace in Ukraine.”
After the call with Trump, Putin said, “Russia is for a peaceful settlement to the Ukraine crisis. But we should determine the most effective path towards that peace.”
Over the weekend, Putin said in a Russian TV interview that Moscow remains capable of meeting its military objectives in Ukraine. He said that included securing territories of Ukraine that Russia claims to have annexed but does not fully control.
Analysts in Moscow said the Kremlin entered Monday’s call convinced that time and a military advantage were on its side.
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“Russia at this certain point can continue its military operations. Sanctions are inflicting harm but this harm is not critical for macroeconomics of Russia,” Ivan Timofeev, head of the Russian International Affairs Council, told NPR.
The Russian army continues making slow but steady gains on the battlefield, he noted, “So in a year, Ukraine can find itself in a less favorable negotiating position.”
NPR’s Polina Lytvynova contributed reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine.
