Trump announced he would call Putin on Monday in an effort to "end the bloody war."

Following Russia's claim on Saturday that a meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy was impossible without an agreement, U.S. President Trump said he would speak with Russian President Putin on Monday to "end the bloodshed." The next day, after the failure of the Ukraine-Turkey negotiations involving Russia, Russian forces continued to bombard Ukraine, with local authorities stating that nine people were killed in the Russian bombing in northern Ukraine.

Trump stated on Saturday that he would discuss how to end the war with Putin on Monday, followed by calls with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and other NATO leaders. Trump said on his Truth Social network that the purpose of the call was to "end the bloody war." He added that he hoped it would be a constructive day that would "end this bloody war that never should have happened."

Late on Saturday, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said, "In accordance with the president's instructions, the United States hopes to permanently end the war between Russia and Ukraine." The spokesperson confirmed that Secretary of State Rubio had spoken with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov on Saturday.

Rubio, who is in Vatican preparing for the inauguration ceremony of the newly elected Pope Leo XIV, expressed that the United States thanks Pope Leo XIV for his contributions to the exchange of prisoners between Ukraine and Russia and the return of Ukrainian children to their families.

On Friday, Ukraine and Russia held their first face-to-face direct negotiations since the outbreak of the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with the Ukrainian delegation requesting unconditional ceasefire and acceptance of Kiev's proposal before the start of the talks. Moscow ultimately agreed only to a prisoner swap involving 1,000 captives from both sides.

Regarding the possibility of a summit between Putin and Zelenskyy, the Kremlin spokesperson stated that Russia would only accept this suggestion if an agreement on the "conflict" was reached beforehand.

However, it seems highly unrealistic for both sides to reach an agreement. The two delegations' negotiations in Istanbul lasted less than two hours, with irreconcilable positions.

The Kremlin maintained its previous major condition: Ukraine must abandon joining NATO, renounce the four regions partially occupied by Russia as well as the Crimean region annexed in 2014, and request Western countries to stop providing military aid to Ukraine.

Ukraine rejected Russia's demands, calling for all Russian troops currently occupying 20% of its territory to withdraw unconditionally.

In recent weeks, ignoring pressure from the United States and the EU, Moscow repeatedly refused Ukraine's suggestions for implementing a ceasefire.

On Friday, French President Macron, British Prime Minister Starmer, German Chancellor Scholz, and Polish Prime Minister Tusk warned that the initial suggestion for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, proposed by the United States, has not been observed by President Putin. Europe and America threatened "massive" sanctions against Russia.

Source: rfi

Original Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1832450661624921/

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