Russia Trump announces Ukraine talks - without pressure on Putin?
After his telephone call with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump is trying to raise hopes of an early ceasefire.
20.05.2025, 05:48
SDA
The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine is "a bloodbath", said Trump - "and I believe that he (Putin) wants to end it". The Republican also held out the prospect of immediate negotiations in the Vatican on a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. However, Trump did not give any details - and was once again criticized for not exerting enough pressure on Moscow in his peace efforts.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized that he rejects possible Russian conditions for a ceasefire, such as the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from annexed territories in his own country. "If Russia makes it a condition that our troops withdraw from our country, this means that they do not want a ceasefire and an end to the war," said Zelensky in Kiev. The constitutional function of the Ukrainian army is to protect its own territory. "Nobody will withdraw our troops from our territory."
The Kremlin has repeatedly emphasized that it insists on a complete withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the four regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, which are only partially controlled by Russia, during peace talks. Ukraine has been defending itself against the Russian invasion for more than three years with Western support. However, Kiev and its European allies fear that the US government could stop its assistance and withdraw from the peace efforts.
Trump and Putin spoke on the phone for around two hours on Monday. "Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine will begin immediately," Trump announced afterwards. Regarding the efforts to end the war, he said in the White House: "I think we have a good chance of getting this done. I think Putin wants that." He would not be trying for a peace solution if he was not convinced of it, Trump said.
Report: European allies disappointed with Trump
However, there are doubts about this account. In a telephone call with European heads of state and government following the conversation with Putin, they got the impression that the US president was not prepared to force the Kremlin leader to the negotiating table by exerting greater pressure, the Financial Times reported, citing a source familiar with the conversation. According to the report, Trump also held out no prospect of further sanctions against Russia for the time being. According to the US broadcaster CNN, he justified this to reporters by saying that there is a chance to make progress with the efforts at this stage.
The adoption of the EU's 17th sanctions package is expected in Brussels on Tuesday. "Europe's (sanctions) package will come and it will be strong," said Selenskyj. There are already agreements and data. He also expects a further package of sanctions if the Russian side is not prepared to cease hostilities. He is also hoping for new punitive measures from the USA - which, according to the Financial Times, are not on the cards for the time being.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) wrote on X that Europe and the USA wanted to "closely accompany Ukraine on the path to a ceasefire". "Europe will increase the pressure on Moscow through sanctions" - this was agreed with the US President after his telephone call with Putin.
Although Western states have imposed economic and financial coercive measures against Russia in several stages since the start of the war, the Kremlin has so far continued the war unabated. Thanks to the booming arms industry, the Russian economy is showing higher growth rates in some cases than those of the EU states.
Possible memorandum - Selensky demands information
After the talks, Putin said that Russia was prepared to work on a memorandum with Ukraine that would include a ceasefire. Moscow wants to end the fighting, but the most effective path to peace must be found. To achieve this, Kiev and Moscow would have to make compromises that are fair to all sides, Putin said. He did not say what he thought the content of these compromises should be. Selenskyj said that he was now awaiting details of the memorandum mentioned by Putin.
According to the Russian news agency Tass, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized that there was no time frame for the drafting of the memorandum. "There are no deadlines and there cannot be any," he said. It was clear that everyone wanted to make progress as quickly as possible, but "the devil is in the detail". Peskov also said that the location for new contacts with Kiev had not been decided, even if the Kremlin was aware of the Vatican proposal.
Ex-ambassador: Putin sees dollar signs in Trump's eyes
Rüdiger von Fritsch, German ambassador to Russia from 2014 to 2019, saw the phone call between the two presidents as a victory on points for Putin. "From everything we know so far, we can't see that Russia has moved in any way, and that it sees - and this seems even more important to me - reason to have to move in the future," said von Fritsch on ARD's Tagesthemen.
Putin knows that Trump is prepared to sacrifice a lot for an end to the conflict - including the interests of Ukraine. It was also remarkable that Trump had "once again" spoken of future US-Russian trade relations. "He sees the dollar signs in Trump's eyes," said von Fritsch about the Kremlin chief, who is exploiting the US president's greed for profit.
Is Trump meeting with Putin?
According to the Kremlin, Putin and Trump also spoke again about a possible personal meeting during their phone call. "Both presidents are interested in such a meeting. But both presidents are also interested in ensuring that this meeting is not empty in terms of content, but results-oriented," said Putin's foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. Last week, Trump had said that he did not expect any real movement in the Ukraine talks before a personal meeting with Putin.
Direct talks between Russia and Ukraine last took place on Friday in Turkey - for the first time in three years. Both sides agreed on a major prisoner exchange. However, the big deal was not achieved - partly because Putin was absent from the meeting he himself proposed. There was no agreement on the ceasefire.
Selenskyj expressed his openness to further talks between high-ranking negotiators from the USA, Ukraine, Russia and European states. Such meetings could take place in Turkey or Switzerland - or in the Vatican.
