Trump plans to call Putin, Zelensky for Ukraine truce

KYIV, May 20 ------ US President Donald Trump said he plans to speak by phone with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, followed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and leaders of various NATO countries, about ending the war in Ukraine. Trump said the call with Putin will be about stopping the "bloodbath" in Ukraine. "Hopefully it will be a productive day, a ceasefire will take place, and this very violent war, a war that should have never happened, will end," Trump wrote in a post on his social networking site Truth Social. 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed in comments to Russian media that preparations were underway for Monday's call. Trump's remarks came a day after the first direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv in years failed to yield a ceasefire. Putin had spurned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's offer to meet face-to-face in Turkey after he himself proposed direct negotiations although not at the presidential level — as an alternative to a 30-day ceasefire urged by Ukraine and its Western allies, including the US. Also on Saturday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had a phone call with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov. During a visit to Rome, Rubio suggested that the Vatican could be a venue for Russia-Ukraine peace talks. 

Source: manilatimes.net