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WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin posted for more than two hours on Monday after the White House said U.S. leaders were “frustrated” with the Ukrainian war. Trump plans to call separately with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a bid to move progress forward.
After the call, Putin said Russia was ready to continue discussing the battle’s ending, but he said there was no major breakthrough in his “very useful and very candid” conversation with Trump. Putin said the warring countries should “find compromises that suit all parties.”
“At the same time, I would like to point out that, in general, Russia’s position is very clear. For us, the main thing is to eliminate the root cause of this crisis.”
The White House did not immediately provide its own phone records.
Trump has been working to end a war that began with the Russian invasion in February 2022. This makes these conversations a serious test of his reputation as a dealmaker, as he claims that once he returns to the White House, he will quickly resolve the conflict, not even before he takes office.
Trump expressed his hopes for Monday’s “productive day” and a ceasefire in a social media post over the weekend. His efforts will also include phone calls from NATO leaders. But ahead of the call, Vice President JD Vance said Trump was “more than just open” to try to end the war if Putin doesn’t take the negotiations seriously.
“He was tired and frustrated with both sides of the conflict,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters before the call on Monday. “He made it clear to both sides that he wanted to see a peaceful resolution and a ceasefire as soon as possible.”
The Republican president is relying on the idea that his character and personal history are strong enough to break the deadlock in the battle.
“I said we’re not just walking away,” Vance left Rome after meeting Pope Leo, telling reporters before leaving Rome. Vance said Trump is clear that the United States “will not spin its wheels here. We want to see results.”
Trump’s “sensitivity is that he has to speak to President Putin on the phone, which will clear some logjam and get us where we need to go.” “I think it will be a very successful call.”
Trump’s frustration was built due to failure to end the war
Still, there are concerns that Trump has affinity for Putin, which could put any agreement designed by Ukraine with the U.S. government at a disadvantage.
Bridget Brink said she resigned from the Ukrainian ambassador last month, “because the policy that the government has started is to put pressure on Ukrainian victims, not on Russian aggressors.”
Brink said the sign she needed to leave was a February Oval Office meeting where Trump and his team publicly condemned Zelenskyy because they didn’t have enough respect for them.
“I believe peace is not peace at any price,” Brink said. “It’s the foot, and as we know from history, it only leads to more wars.”
Trump’s frustration with the war has been socializing on his Saturday’s truth about the upcoming call.
Trump said his discussions with Putin would focus on the “bloody shrub” that stopped the war. It will also cover trade, suggesting that Trump may be seeking to exploit economic incentives during the Russian invasion that led to the United States and
Its allies steadily erode Moscow’s ability to grow.
According to the Post, Trump’s hope is that “a war that will never happen will end.”
Vance said Trump will ask Putin whether he will seriously negotiate to end the conflict, saying Trump does not think he is and that Trump may wash away his hands trying to end the war.
“Tango requires two tangoes,” Vance said.
His Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on NBC’s “Meeting Media” on Sunday that Trump has made it clear that Putin’s failure to achieve “sincere” negotiations could lead to additional sanctions against Russia.
Bessent suggested that sanctions that began during the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden were insufficient because they did not stop Russian oil revenues because of fears that doing so would raise U.S. prices. The United States is trying to limit Russia’s oil revenues while preserving the country’s oil exports to limit the damage caused by the war’s inflation.
There was no ceasefire, but the prisoners were exchanged
Putin recently rejected Zelenskyy’s proposal to meet in Türkiye to replace a 30-day ceasefire urged by Ukraine and its Western allies, including Washington. Instead, Russian and Ukrainian officials held talks in Istanbul, the first direct negotiation since March 2022.
The talks ended on Friday less than two hours later, with no ceasefire. Still, the two countries are committed to exchanging 1,000 prisoners of war with Ukraine’s intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov, who said on Ukrainian TV on Saturday that the exchange may have happened early this week.
Trump said Friday that Putin did not go to Turkey when summarizing his four-day trip to the Middle East because Trump himself was not there.
“He and I will meet, I think we will solve it, or maybe not,” Trump told reporters after he boarded the Air Force. “At least we will know. If we don’t solve it, it will be very interesting.”
Zelenskyy met Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Rome on Sunday, as well as European leaders, intensified his efforts ahead of Monday’s call.
The Ukrainian president said on social media site X that during talks with U.S. officials, they discussed the negotiations in Turkey, and that “the Russians sent a low-level delegation of non-decision makers.” He also said he stressed that Ukraine is having a “real diplomatic” ceasefire.
“We also talked about the need for Russia, bilateral trade, defense cooperation, battlefield situations and the upcoming prisoner exchange,” Zelenskyy said. “The pressure on Russia is needed until they are eager to stop the war.”
The German government said Prime Minister Friedrich Merz and French, British and Italian leaders spoke with Trump later on Sunday about the situation in Ukraine and his upcoming call with Putin. A brief statement did not provide details of the conversation, but said the plan was to continue the exchange directly after Trump-Putin’s call.
Witkoff spoke on ABC’s “This Week” Sunday, with Brink appearing on CBS’ “Facing the Country.”