U.S. President Donald Trump introduced plans to carry telephone calls Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, adopted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and leaders of a number of NATO nations, aiming to barter an finish to the struggle in Ukraine.
Trump stated his dialogue with Putin will deal with halting the “bloodbath” in Ukraine.
“Hopefully it will be a productive day, a cease-fire will take place, and this very violent war – a war that should never have happened – will end,” Trump wrote Saturday on his social media platform, Truth Social.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to Russian media that preparations for Monday’s name are underway.
Trump’s remarks got here a day after the primary direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv in years didn’t yield a cease-fire. Putin spurned Zelenskyy’s provide to fulfill face-to-face in Türkiye after proposing direct negotiations – although not on the presidential stage – as an alternative choice to a 30-day cease-fire urged by Ukraine and its Western allies, together with the U.S.
Also Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had a telephone name together with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov. During a go to to Rome, Rubio steered the Vatican might be a venue for Russia-Ukraine peace talks.
In Ukraine, a northeastern city declared a interval of mourning after a Russian drone struck a bus evacuating civilians from frontline areas, killing 9 individuals, Ukrainian officers stated. The strike got here hours after Russian and Ukrainian delegations left Istanbul following what could be the most important prisoner swap to this point between the fighters.
The Istanbul talks on Friday ended after lower than two hours with out a cease-fire, though either side agreed to alternate 1,000 prisoners of struggle every, based on the heads of each delegations. Ukraine’s intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, stated Saturday on Ukrainian tv the alternate may occur as early as subsequent week.
But the Kremlin pushed again in opposition to a proposal by Ukraine and its Western allies for a short lived cease-fire as a primary step towards a peaceable settlement, and the events remained far aside on key situations for ending the preventing.
Since U.S.-brokered talks started in March, Ukraine’s technique has been to persuade the Trump administration that Putin is unreliable and that Kyiv is critical about peace. Trump has expressed frustration with the stalled talks and threatened to desert his efforts if outcomes aren’t achieved.
The political theatrics are underscored by stark realities on the bottom in Ukraine. In a struggle of attrition in opposition to Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s place is poised to develop weaker over time except highly effective sanctions are imposed in opposition to Moscow and the U.S. continues arms deliveries.
Zelenskyy stated he mentioned the end result of the talks with Trump and the leaders of France, Germany, Britain and Poland. In an X put up from a European management assembly in Albania on Friday, Zelenskyy urged “tough sanctions” in opposition to Moscow if it rejects “a full and unconditional cease-fire and an end to killings.”
Peskov on Saturday held open the opportunity of Putin holding talks with Zelenskyy, offered the agreed prisoner swap goes forward and the Russian and Ukrainian delegations attain unspecified additional “agreements.”
Peskov additionally advised reporters that Moscow will current Ukraine with an inventory of situations for a cease-fire however gave no timeframe or particulars on what must occur earlier than Zelenskyy and Putin can meet.
In Ukraine, 9 civilians had been killed and 7 others wounded when a Russian drone struck a bus evacuating individuals from Bilopillia, a city about 6 miles (10 kilometers) from Russia’s border, based on native Gov. Oleh Hryhorov and Ukraine’s nationwide police. The Associated Press couldn’t independently confirm the studies. There was no rapid remark from Moscow.
Zelenskyy described the assault as a “deliberate killing of civilians,” including in a put up on the Telegram messaging app that “Russians could scarcely not realize what kind of vehicle they were hitting.”
Local media outlet Suspilne stated the passengers on the bus had been being evacuated from the city when the strike occurred. Authorities are working to determine a number of the victims, most of them older ladies.
Local group chief Yurii Zarko referred to as the day “Black Saturday,” and mourning was declared within the city by way of Monday.
Zelenskyy lamented the missed alternative from Friday’s peace talks, saying, “Ukraine has long proposed this – a full and unconditional cease-fire in order to save lives.”
Ukraine’s European allies strongly condemned the assault. U.Ok. Foreign Secretary David Lammy stated he was “appalled” by it. “If Putin is serious about peace, Russia must agree to a full and immediate cease-fire, as Ukraine has done,” he wrote on X.
The German Foreign Office wrote on its official X account that the strike in Bilopillia was “unsurpassed in cynicism.”
“Less than 24 hours after the end of the Istanbul talks, Putin is once again making clear that he does not want peace,” it stated.
Russia’s Defense Ministry stated its forces struck Ukrainian models Saturday close to a number of border settlements in Sumy, together with Ryzhivka and Atynske, about 9 miles (15 kilometers) north of Bilopillia. It didn’t instantly touch upon studies of the lethal assault.
According to the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War suppose tank, Ukrainian forces have been inching ahead into Russian territory within the Kursk area, simply north of Bilopillia.
Russia stated final month its forces had totally reclaimed the Kursk area, almost 9 months after Kyiv’s lightning incursion captured greater than 100 settlements there and promised Ukraine a bargaining chip in doable negotiations. Ukrainian officers stated preventing in Kursk remains to be ongoing.
Source: www.dailysabah.com