The Daily Populous Tuesday May 20th, 2025 evening edition
Authored by inews.co.uk and submitted by theipaper

The US President claimed the talks had gone 'very well', but attempts to get Putin to support to a 30-day ceasefire have so far stalled

cancel email WhatsApp link share Share bookmark Save

share cancel email WhatsApp link bookmark

A rare phone call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin has raised hopes and frustrations over a potential peace process for the war in Ukraine.

The US President said the two-hour conversation went “very well”, and that Ukraine and Russia are to start ceasefire talks “immediately”.

In a post on social media he wrote: “Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War.”

However, despite the upbeat comments, Moscow has not yet agreed to any of the key objectives set out by Washington, prompting one former European leader to frame the call as “a win for Putin”.

The i Paper takes a look at what we have learned from the latest talks.

Trump hails ‘excellent’ call – but no one has fundamentally changed their stance

The first reports from the phone call painted a rosy picture, with Trump and Putin on friendly terms and addressing each other by their first names.

“Trump said, ‘Vladimir, you can pick up the phone at any time, and I will be happy to answer and speak with you,”‘ Russian presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov said.

The US President said his talk with Putin went “very well” and was “excellent”, adding: “If it wasn’t, I would say so now, rather than later.”

Moscow, he said, would “propose and is ready to work with” Ukraine on a “memorandum” outlining the framework for “a possible future peace treaty”.

He added that if appropriate agreements were reached, there could be a ceasefire, and direct talks between Russia and Ukraine gave “reason to believe that we are generally on the right track.”

But both leaders were unchanged on their negotiating positions. Putin said “Russia’s position is clear. The main thing for us is to eliminate the root causes of this crisis.”

He also refused to support the US-proposed 30-day unconditional ceasefire, a key element of Monday’s phone call.

Russia’s requests, including taking the Ukrainian regions of Crimea and Donbas, and keeping Ukraine out of Nato, have been repeatedly rejected by Kyiv.

Trump also reverted to his previous threat of walking away. He told reporters in the Oval Office: “I think something’s going to happen and, if it doesn’t I’d just back away and they have to keep going. This was a European situation. It should have remained a European situation.

Putin spoke to Trump from a music school in the southern Russian resort city of Sochi, where he later took questions from students (Photo: Alexander Kazakov/Pool/AFP)

Talks could be held at the Vatican

Trump revealed that the new Pope, Leo XIV, had offered up the Vatican as a potential venue for ceasefire talks. “The Vatican, as represented by the Pope, has stated that it would be very interested in hosting the negotiations. Let the process begin!” he posted on Truth Social.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said leaders had welcomed the Pontiff’s offer, and that “Italy is ready to do its part to facilitate contacts and work for peace.”

Pope Leo, the first US leader of the global Catholic Church, has previously said the Vatican could act as a mediator in global conflicts. “The Holy See is always ready to help bring enemies together, face-to-face, to talk to one another, so that peoples everywhere may once more find hope and recover the dignity they deserve, the dignity of peace,” he said last week.

A Kremlin spokesman said Moscow was aware of the Pope’s offer but that the issue of the Vatican “was not discussed in specifics” during the phone call.

Trump was also questioned by reporters as to whether holding talks at the Vatican meant the US was stepping away – a suggestion he denied.

“No, no, no, I think it would be great to have at the Vatican, perhaps it would have some extra significance,” he said.

Pope Leo, the first US Pope, has previously said the Vatican could act as a mediator in global conflicts. He is pictured here meeting Volodymyr Zelensky at the end of Mass (Photo: Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty)

Although Trump said that the two sides will “immediately” begin ceasefire negotiations, no date for such talks has been set. Nor is it clear who might participate.

It is also unclear whether talks would be run separately from those that began last Friday in Istanbul.

That discussion – the first between Ukrainian and Russian delegations in three years – helped bring about a limited exchange of prisoners, but did not pause the fighting.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Trump and Putin did not discuss a timeline for a ceasefire but did discuss trading nine Russians for nine Americans in a prisoner swap.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said there were “no deadlines” for a memorandum on Ukraine.

“There are no deadlines and there cannot be any. It is clear that everyone wants to do this as quickly as possible, but, of course, the devil is in the details,” the RIA agency quoted him as saying.

European leaders and Ukraine have demanded Russia agree to a ceasefire immediately, and Trump has focused on getting Putin to commit to a 30-day truce. Putin has resisted this, insisting that conditions be met first.

A resident carries a cat at the site of a house heavily damaged by a Russian drone strike on 18 May (Photo: Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)

European leaders agree to put more pressure on Moscow after Trump call

After speaking to Putin, Trump held another call with Volodymyr Zelensky, and with the leaders of the European Union, France, Italy, Germany and Finland to relay the details.

Zelensky said “this is a defining moment”, and urged the US not to distance itself from talks.

After speaking with Trump, Zelensky said Kyiv and its partners might push for a high-level meeting among Ukraine, Russia, the United States, European Union countries and Britain as part of a push to end the war.

In a post on X, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the conversation with Trump was “good” and it was “important that the US stays engaged.”

But not everyone was impressed. Former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt said the call with Trump was “undoubtedly a win for Putin”.

The Russian leader “deflected the call for an immediate ceasefire and instead can continue military operations at the same time as he puts pressure on at the negotiating table,” he wrote.

One person familiar with Trump’s call with the Ukrainian and European leaders said participants were “shocked” that the US leader did not want to push Putin with sanctions, Reuters reported.

Late on Monday night German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said European leaders decided to increase pressure on Russia through sanctions after Trump briefed them on his call.

Trump did not appear ready to follow that move.

Asked why he had not imposed fresh sanctions to push Moscow into a peace deal as he has threatened, Trump told reporters: “Well because I think there’s a chance of getting something done, and if you do that, you can also make it much worse. But there could be a time where that’s going to happen.”

oldaliumfarmer on May 20th, 2025 at 12:53 UTC »

Putin has his war and the god/king puts no pressure on him to stop it. The white house stops blaming Ukraine for the war but does nothing to help Ukraine therefore helping Russia and 74 senators sponsoring a bill to sanction Russia sit on their collective hands. It is simply Treason.

royaltoast849 on May 20th, 2025 at 11:51 UTC »

Maybe I'm missing something here, but I see the logic fairly simple. As Russia's maximalist war aims aren't going away, even though the US offered Russia many, many things, I think Donnie will eventually be forced to restart sending aid to Ukraine.

This situation of Trump seeking to convince Putin to a ceasefire and eventual peace, and Putin simply playing around with him until aid to Ukraine falters and he can eventually push, will probably continue for a few months, until either two things happen.

Either the Ukrainian military collapses and Russia takes Ukraine, or Trump cooperates with the EU and sends miilitary aid and the war continues.

Again, maybe I'm missing crucial context (this war is already pretty complicated as is), but the most likely scenario I see is Donnie taking out the stick and forcing, not convincing, Putin to sign peace.

theipaper on May 20th, 2025 at 08:37 UTC »

A rare phone call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin has raised hopes and frustrations over a potential peace process for the war in Ukraine.

The US president said the two-hour conversation went “very well”, and that Ukraine and Russia are to start ceasefire talks “immediately”.

In a post on social media he wrote: “Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War.”

But despite the upbeat comments, Moscow has not yet agreed to any of the key objectives set out by Washington, prompting one former European leader to frame the call as “a win for Putin.”

Here The i Paper takes a look at what we’ve learnt from the latest talks.

Trump hails ‘excellent’ call – but so far no one has fundamentally changed their stance

The first reports from the phone call painted a rosy picture, with Trump and Putin on friendly terms and addressing each other by their first names.

“Trump said: ‘Vladimir, you can pick up the phone at any time, and I will be happy to answer and speak with you,”‘ Russian presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov said.

The US president said his talk with Putin went “very well” and was “excellent”, adding: “If it wasn’t, I would say so now, rather than later.”

Moscow, he said, will “propose and is ready to work with” Ukraine on a “memorandum” outlining the framework for “a possible future peace treaty.”

He said that if appropriate agreements were reached, there could be a ceasefire, adding that direct talks between Russia and Ukraine gave “reason to believe that we are generally on the right track.”

But both leaders were unchanged on their negotiating positions.

Putin said “Russia’s position is clear. The main thing for us is to eliminate the root causes of this crisis.”

He also refused to support the US-proposed 30-day unconditional ceasefire, a key element of Monday’s phone call.

Russia’s requests, including taking Crimea and Donbas and keeping Ukraine out of Nato, have been repeatedly rejected by Kyiv.

Trump also reverted to his previous threat of walking away.

He told reporters in the Oval Office: “I think something’s going to happen and, if it doesn’t I’d just back away and they have to keep going. This was a European situation. It should have remained a European situation.

“This is not my war.”