Trump, who says he wants to be remembered as a peacemaker, has repeatedly called for an end to the ”bloodbath” of Ukraine, which his administration casts as a proxy war between the United States and Russia.
Under pressure from Trump, delegates from the warring countries met last week in Istanbul for the first time since 2022, after Putin proposed direct talks and Europeans and Ukraine demanded an immediate ceasefire.Also read: Iran says nuclear talks will fail if US pushes for zero enrichment
A White House official said the call was underway. Putin was speaking from Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi while Trump was in Washington.
Shortly before the call, US Vice President JD Vance told reporters that Washington recognised there was an impasse in ending the war – and that if Moscow was not willing to engage then eventually the United States would have to say it was not its war.
”We realise there’s a bit of an impasse here. And I think the president’s going to say to President Putin: ’Look, are you serious? Are you real about this?’” Vance said as he prepared to depart from Italy.
”I think honestly that President Putin, he doesn’t quite know how to get out of the war,” Vance said, adding that he had just spoken to Trump.
He said it ”takes two to tango. I know the President’s willing to do that, but if Russia is not willing to do that, then we’re eventually just going to say, this is not our war.”
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”We’re going to try to end it, but if we can’t end it, we’re eventually going to say: ’You know what? That was worth a try, but we’re not doing anymore.’”
Trump, whose administration has made clear that Russia could face additional sanctions if it does not take peace talks seriously, said he would also speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and various members of NATO.
Putin, whose forces control a fifth of Ukraine and are advancing, has stood firm on his conditions for ending the war, despite public and private pressure from Trump and repeated warnings from European powers.
On Sunday, Russia launched its largest drone attack on Ukraine since the start of the war.
Ukraine’s intelligence service said it also believed Moscow intended to fire an intercontinental ballistic missile on Sunday, though there was no confirmation from Russia that it had done so.
Also read: EU readying new sanctions to increase pressure on Russia
