‘Big egos involved’: Trump says Russia, Ukraine to begin ‘immediate’ ceasefire talks after calls with Putin, Zelenskyy

In a major development, US President Donald Trump on Monday claimed that Russia and Ukraine will “immediately” begin ceasefire negotiations, following separate phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. However, the conversations, while described as productive, did not appear to yield a major breakthrough, AP reported.

The details regarding when or where the negotiations would take place remain unclear. Trump’s announcement comes shortly after the first direct meeting between Russian and Ukrainian delegations since 2022, which took place in Turkey last week and led to a limited prisoner exchange but no ceasefire.

Ahead of the calls, the White House noted that Trump had grown “frustrated” with both leaders over the ongoing war. Vice President JD Vance had said that Trump planned to push Putin to determine whether he was genuinely interested in ending the conflict, warning that if not, the US might consider stepping back from diplomatic involvement.

Also Read:US President Trump to speak with Russian President Putin, Ukrainian President Zelensky on Monday 

Later, Trump struck an optimistic tone, telling reporters, “My little conversation with a nice gentleman named Vladimir Putin. We had a good talk, and I think that progress is being made. 5,000 young soldiers are being killed every single week on average. And it’s a number probably worse than that, in addition to other people that are being killed in towns.”

#WATCH | US President Donald Trump says, “…My little conversation with a nice gentleman named Vladimir Putin. We had a good talk, and I think that progress is being made. 5,000 young soldiers are being killed every single week on average. And it’s a number probably worse than… pic.twitter.com/kycWSNJfhr

— ANI (@ANI) May 19, 2025

He emphasised the US administration’s desire to stop the bloodshed and “bring the end to the three-year war ‘immediately.’”

On May 19, both Russian and Ukrainian leaders reportedly agreed to support immediate negotiations aimed at ending the conflict, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Taking to his social media platform Truth Social, Trump wrote, “Just completed my two hour call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. I believe it went very well.”

“The conditions for that will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be, because they know details of a negotiation that nobody else would be aware of,” he added in another post.

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‘End to the war’

Reiterating the urgency, Trump said, “Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War,” though he stressed that the specifics of the agreement would be left to the two countries.

pic.twitter.com/q5CPyHZkLD

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 19, 2025

Describing his call with Putin as “excellent,” Trump added, “If it wasn’t, I would say so now, rather than later.”

Speaking from the Oval Office, he acknowledged the challenges ahead, noting, “Big egos involved. But 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.”

Trump said he pressed Putin during the call: “We’ve got to get going.” Despite his earlier campaign pledges to resolve the conflict quickly, Trump has so far struggled to broker peace in the ongoing war.

Also Read:Russia-Ukraine peace talks to resume in Istanbul after 2 years soon? Zelenskyy, Putin send their delegations

Moscow ready to work on ‘possible future peace treaty’

Putin, for his part, described the call with Trump as a “very informative and very frank” exchange. He expressed Russia’s readiness to continue dialogue and said the two sides should “find compromises that would suit all parties.”

He added that Moscow was ready to work with Ukraine on a framework for a “possible future peace treaty,” though he maintained that “the main thing for us is to eliminate the root causes of this crisis.”

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy also confirmed his call with Trump on Monday, stating that he had reaffirmed Ukraine’s openness to a complete and unconditional ceasefire.

“Ukraine doesn’t need to be persuaded — our representatives are ready to make real decisions. What’s needed is mirrored readiness from Russia for such result-oriented negotiations,” Zelenskyy said, while calling on the international community to maintain pressure on Moscow if it refuses to halt the war.

(With inputs from agencies)