Trump and
Putin hold phone call but Kremlin refuses Ukraine ceasefire
Trump
describes call as ‘excellent,’ despite Putin’s lack of support for ceasefire
that US said was primary objective
Pjotr Sauer
Mon 19 May
2025 23.33 BST
Vladimir
Putin and Donald Trump have held a rare phone call, which the US leader
described as “excellent”, but the Kremlin refused to agree to a ceasefire in
the war with Ukraine, despite pressure from Washington and European allies.
Speaking to
reporters in Sochi after the two-hour conversation on Monday, Putin described
the call as “very meaningful and frank” and said he was prepared to work with
Ukraine on drafting a memorandum for future peace talks.
However, the
Russian leader declined to support the US-proposed 30-day unconditional
ceasefire, which Ukraine had already agreed to – and which Washington had
framed as the call’s primary objective. Putin also suggested his country’s
maximalist objectives in the war with Ukraine were unchanged.
In contrast,
Trump offered a far more positive spin, saying in a post on his Truth Social
network that the talks went “very well”.
“The tone
and spirit of the conversation were excellent … Russia and Ukraine will
immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END
to the War,” he wrote, suggesting that the Vatican should host future
Russia-Ukraine negotiations.
Trump’s
statement after the call with Putin also suggested the US would be stepping
back from the negotiations. He said the conditions for a deal could only be
negotiated by the “warring parties”, despite his earlier claim that he could
end the war in a single day.
Trump later
said it would be “great” to hold peace talks at the Vatican, but again
suggested the US could abandon its involvement, telling reporters that if there
is no progress: “I’m just going to back away.”
Beyond
Trump’s occasionally optimistic rhetoric, no breakthrough appears in sight.
Despite previously demanding an immediate ceasefire and backing Europe’s
ultimatum for Russia to halt hostilities, he now appears to be once again
easing off pressure on Moscow. He made no mention of his previous threats to
impose sanctions on Russia if it did not agree to halt the fighting.
Moscow has
consistently rejected extended ceasefire proposals, arguing they would give
Ukraine time to rearm and regroup at a time Russian forces are making
battlefield advances.
On Monday,
Putin claimed Russia supported a halt to hostilities, but said it was necessary
to “identify the most effective paths toward peace”.
Crucially,
Putin repeated his longstanding refrain that the “root causes” of the war must
be addressed: a reference to Russia’s far-reaching demands that would severely
undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty.
These
demands include forcing Ukraine to “denazify” and demilitarise, cutting back
its armed forces, barring it from receiving western military support, and
imposing sweeping limits on its sovereignty.
Since
Trump’s re-election, Putin has been engaged in a delicate balancing act with
the US president, appearing to support peace talks to stay in Trump’s favour,
while pushing for terms that in effect amount to Ukraine’s capitulation.
In an
apparent show of confidence and nonchalance, Putin took the call with Trump on
Monday while touring a music school in Sochi. His bravado is fuelled by
Russia’s slow but steady battlefield gains, Europe’s disjointed response, and a
domestic economy increasingly adapted for a prolonged war.
Trump said
he spoke with Zelenskyy and several European leaders after his call with Putin.
In a
statement late on Monday, Zelenskyy insisted Ukraine was ready for a full
ceasefire and direct negotiations with Moscow, but said: “If the Russians are
not ready to stop the killings, there must be stronger sanctions. Pressure on
Russia will push it toward real peace.”
He added:
“If Putin puts forward unrealistic demands, this will mean that Russia
continues to drag out the war, and deserves that Europe, America, and the world
act accordingly, including with further sanctions. Russia must end the war it
started, and it can begin doing so any day.”
Zelenskyy
also rejected Russia’s demands for Ukraine to withdraw its troops from the
Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, which Russia claims to have
annexed but does not fully control. “No one will withdraw our troops from our
territories,” he told reporters.
The
Ukrainian leader also urged the US not to “distance itself from the talks and
the pursuit of peace”.
“The only
one who benefits from that is Putin,” he said.
The flurry
of diplomatic activity on Monday came days after the first meeting between
Russian and Ukrainian delegations in three years, held in Istanbul. Those talks
broke down after Russia demanded more territory as a condition for halting the
fighting.
A day after
the delegations met, Trump said he would speak by phone with Putin to end the
“bloodbath” in Ukraine. The US leader proclaimed “nothing will happen” on the
peace talks until he met Putin.
But Putin
and Trump remained silent on the prospect of a meeting on Monday.
Despite
Putin’s continued refusal to agree to a temporary ceasefire, Trump has stopped
short of directly criticising him – even as a growing consensus in Washington
sees the Russian president as the main obstacle to progress in the peace talks.
As in
previous calls, Putin appeared to cultivate a personal rapport with Trump,
congratulating him on the birth of his 11th grandson, according to Putin’s top
foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov.
Putin has
publicly praised Trump on several occasions, flattering him as “courageous”
after the 2024 assassination attempt at a campaign rally. He also claimed to
have prayed for “his friend” after Trump was grazed by a bullet.
According to
Ushakov, Trump told Putin during the call: “Vladimir, you can pick up the phone
anytime. I’ll be happy to answer and happy to talk with you.”
Speaking
before the call between the two leaders, the US vice-president, JD Vance, said
Trump would press Putin on whether he was “serious” about ending the war.
“We realise
there’s a bit of an impasse here. And I think the president’s going to say to
President Putin: ‘Look, are you serious? Are you real about this?’” Vance said
as he prepared to depart from Italy.
“I think
honestly that President Putin, he doesn’t quite know how to get out of the
war,” Vance said, adding that he had just spoken to Trump.
He said
Trump may offer Putin economic incentives to accept some concessions on Ukraine
in return for peace.
But the
vice-president also raised the prospect of the US walking away from the talks –
a scenario that will unsettle European allies and raise doubts about America’s
willingness to keep providing military and economic aid to Ukraine.
Vance said
that it “takes two to tango. I know the president’s willing to do that, but if
Russia is not willing to do that, then we’re eventually just going to say, this
is not our war.
Fearing that
Trump might strike a deal with the Kremlin at Ukraine’s expense, European
leaders rushed on Sunday to sway his thinking before the talks.
The British
prime minister, Keir Starmer, said he held talks with the leaders of the US,
Italy, France and Germany on Sunday evening to coordinate efforts to pressure
Russia into accepting an unconditional ceasefire, warning that new sanctions
could be imposed if Moscow refuses to engage seriously.
The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said in a statement: “Putin must show he wants peace by accepting the 30-day unconditi
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