“HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE A PRODUCTIVE DAY,” Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social as he announced a telephone call with Vladimir Putin. It was set for Monday, May 19, 2025, and the stated aim was a ceasefire in Ukraine.
The timing was awkward. Hours before the call, Moscow had launched its largest drone strike of the war on Ukraine. By 8am Monday, Ukraine’s Air Force said, Russia had sent 273 drones at Ukrainian cities. A 28-year-old woman was dead, and three others were injured, among them a four-year-old. Kyiv also warned of a Russian ballistic missile test.
Trump laid out the agenda in capital letters: stopping the “bloodbath” that he said was killing, on average, more than 5,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers a week, and trade. His envoy Steve Witkoff predicted a “very successful call.” Trump, he said, “has got to get on the phone with President Putin, and that is going to clear up some of the logjam.”
Istanbul, and no ceasefire
The call followed the first direct talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in three years. Many had hoped for a three-way meeting of Trump, Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky. Putin sent a low-level team of negotiators to Turkey instead, which drew criticism from Zelensky and other world leaders.
The Friday meeting in Istanbul was short. The two sides agreed to a 1,000-prisoner exchange and to hold more direct talks. They did not agree to a ceasefire. A Ukrainian diplomat said Russia had put forward “unacceptable conditions” that were “non-starters” for Kyiv, including the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from large parts of the country. Vladimir Medinsky, who led Russia’s delegation, said only that he had “taken note” of the request for direct talks between Zelensky and Putin.
Zelensky has said Ukraine is ready for a full 30-day ceasefire. He has urged Western leaders, Trump included, to increase sanctions on Putin if Russia refuses. He has also said Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, remains part of Ukraine.
Trump’s shifting line
Trump’s position on the war has swung. He has often blamed Ukraine for the failure to end it. Last month he blamed Ukraine for starting it, and in February he called Zelensky a “dictator without elections,” a line the Kremlin welcomed. His administration has said repeatedly that Ukraine would have to cede territory in any deal. When Zelensky said Kyiv would not recognize Russia’s occupation of Crimea, Trump lashed out: “He has nothing to boast about! The situation for Ukraine is dire – he can have peace or he can fight for another three years before losing the whole country.”
After an extraordinary meeting with Zelensky in the Vatican, ahead of Pope Francis’s funeral, he softened. He posted that Putin’s missile fire into civilian areas made him think “maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war.” Putin, he wrote, was “just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’”
Before leaving the Middle East, Trump said he knew Putin would only have gone to Istanbul if he did. He added that he still planned to meet Putin “as soon as we can set it up.”
