On Sunday, May 18, the Kremlin confirmed that preparations are underway for a phone call between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump announced the phone call Saturday, May 17, in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social.
Will face-to-face talks take shape?
According to Trump, he will first speak with Putin at 10 a.m., followed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump and Zelenskyy will then speak with “various members of NATO,” the U.S. president detailed in his post.
The phone calls come after Kyiv and Moscow held their first direct talks Friday, May 16, since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The delegations reportedly spoke for less than two hours and ended by agreeing to a swap of 1,000 prisoners of war each, which could take place as early as next week, according to Ukraine’s intelligence chief.
Those talks were in lieu of a 30-day ceasefire, backed by the U.S., that Ukraine and its Western allies proposed in early May.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Saturday that Putin could be willing to speak face-to-face with Zelenskyy if the prisoner swap is successful, and if the two countries reached further “agreements,” according to the Associated Press. Peskov did not elaborate on what those agreements would entail. Ukraine and Russia conducted a prisoner swap on April 19.
However, Trump has previously stated that peace talks between the two warring leaders will not take place unless Trump himself meets with Putin first. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday, Trump said, “[Putin] and I will meet, and I think we’ll solve it, or maybe not,” adding, “At least we’ll know.”
Russia continues to reject ceasefire
Zelenskyy has maintained that a ceasefire is a prerequisite for an end to the war. However, Putin has rejected the idea. That rejection culminated in an alleged Russian drone strike on a bus that was reportedly evacuating Ukrainian civilians from the frontlines Saturday, killing nine people. The Associated Press said it could not independently verify accounts of the strike, which were announced by the local governor, Oleh Hryhorov, and Ukraine’s national police. Moscow has not commented on the attack.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in Vatican City to meet with Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the church’s Ukraine liaison. Rubio suggested using the Vatican as a neutral playing field for hosting negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. While he stopped short of calling the Vatican a potential “peace broker,” Rubio said Saturday he thinks “it’s a place that both sides would be comfortable going.”
During his Inauguration Mass Sunday, which was attended by Rubio and Vice President JD Vance, Pope Leo XIV again called for a “just and lasting” peace in Ukraine.
Following the Mass, Zelenskyy met with Vance and Rubio, several European leaders, and the newly inaugurated pope at the Vatican. In a post on X, Zelenskyy called his meeting with Vance and Rubio “good,” and said they discussed “the need for sanctions against Russia, bilateral trade, defense cooperation, battlefield situation and upcoming prisoners exchange.”
Of his meeting with Pope Leo, Zelenskyy said, “For millions of people around the world, the Pontiff is a symbol of hope for peace. The authority and voice of the Holy See can play an important role in bringing this war to an end.”
In his post on Saturday, Trump said he hopes Monday will be a “productive day,” adding, “a ceasefire will take place, and this very violent war, a war that should have never happened, will end.”
