[🇺🇦] Monitoring Russian and Ukraine War.

[Saif]

Peace breakthrough unlikely as Putin declines to meet Zelenskiy in Turkey

Russia's Vladimir Putin spurned a challenge to meet face-to-face with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Turkey on Thursday, dealing a blow to prospects for a peace breakthrough. The Russian president dispatched a second-tier team of aides and deputy ministers to take part in talks in Ista

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Peace breakthrough unlikely as Putin declines to meet Zelenskiy in Turkey
REUTERS
Published :
May 15, 2025 21:21
Updated :
May 15, 2025 21:21

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, May 15, 2025. Photo : Mustafa Kamaci/Turkish Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS

Russia's Vladimir Putin spurned a challenge to meet face-to-face with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Turkey on Thursday, dealing a blow to prospects for a peace breakthrough.

The Russian president dispatched a second-tier team of aides and deputy ministers to take part in talks in Istanbul, while US President Donald Trump, on a tour of the Gulf, undercut the chances of major progress when he said there would be no movement in the absence of a meeting between himself and Putin.

Zelenskiy said Putin's decision not to attend but to send what he called a "decorative" line-up showed the Russian leader was not serious about ending the war.

He said he himself would not go to Istanbul, but would send a team, headed by his defence minister, with a mandate to discuss a ceasefire. It was not clear when the talks would actually begin.

"We can't be running around the world looking for Putin," Zelenskiy said after meeting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.

"I feel disrespect from Russia. No meeting time, no agenda, no high-level delegation - this is personal disrespect. To Erdogan, to Trump," Zelenskiy told reporters.

Zelenskiy backs an immediate, unconditional 30-day ceasefire but Putin has said he first wants to start talks at which the details of such a truce could be discussed. More than three years after its full-scale invasion, Russia has the advantage on the battlefield and says Ukraine could use a pause in the war to call up extra troops and acquire more Western weapons.

Both Trump and Putin have said for months they are keen to meet each other, but no date has been set. Trump, after piling heavy pressure on Ukraine and clashing with Zelenskiy in the Oval Office in February, has lately expressed growing impatience that Putin may be "tapping me along".

"Nothing's going to happen until Putin and I get together," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

DIPLOMATIC CONFUSION

The diplomatic disarray was symptomatic of the deep hostility between the warring sides and the unpredictability injected by Trump, whose interventions since returning to the White House in January have often provoked dismay from Ukraine and its European allies.

While Zelenskiy waited in vain for Putin in Ankara, the Russian negotiating team sat in Istanbul with no one to talk to on the Ukrainian side. Some 200 reporters milled around near the Dolmabahce Palace on the Bosphorus that the Russians had specified as the talks venue.

The enemies have been wrestling for months over the logistics of ceasefires and peace talks while trying to show Trump they are serious about trying to end what he calls "this stupid war".

Hundreds of thousands have been killed and wounded on both sides in the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two. Washington has threatened repeatedly to abandon its mediation efforts unless there is clear progress.

Trump said on Thursday he would go to the talks in Turkey on Friday if it was "appropriate".

"I just hope Russia and Ukraine are able to do something. It has to stop," he said.

Russia accused Ukraine of "trying to put on a show" around the talks. Its lead negotiator said the Russians were ready to get down to work and discuss possible compromises.

Asked if Putin would join talks at some future point, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "What kind of participation will be required further, at what level, it is too early to say now."

Russia said on Thursday its forces had captured two more settlements in Ukraine's Donetsk region. A spokeswoman for Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov pointedly reminded reporters of his comment last year that Ukraine was "getting smaller" in the absence of an agreement to stop fighting.

FIRST TALKS FOR THREE YEARS

Once they start, the talks will have to address a chasm between the two sides over a host of issues.

The Russian delegation is headed by presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky, a former culture minister who has overseen the rewriting of history textbooks to reflect Moscow's narrative on the war. It includes a deputy defence minister, a deputy foreign minister and the head of military intelligence.

Key members of the team, including Medinsky, were also involved in the last direct peace talks in Istanbul in March 2022 - a signal that Moscow wants to pick up where those left off.

But the terms under discussion then, while Ukraine was still reeling from Russia's initial invasion, would be deeply disadvantageous to Kyiv. They included a demand by Moscow for deep cuts to the size of Ukraine's military.

With Russian forces now in control of close to a fifth of Ukraine, Putin has held fast to his longstanding demands for Kyiv to cede territory, abandon its NATO membership ambitions and become a neutral country.

Ukraine rejects these terms as tantamount to capitulation, and is seeking guarantees of its future security from world powers, especially the United States.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Zelenskiy had shown his good faith by coming to Turkey but there was an "empty chair" where Putin should be sitting.

"Putin is stalling and clearly has no desire to enter these peace negotiations, even when President Trump expressed his availability and his desire to facilitate these negotiations," he said.

Highlighting the level of tension between Russia and the U.S.-led alliance, Estonia said Moscow had briefly sent a military jet into NATO airspace over the Baltic Sea during an attempt by the Estonian navy to stop a Russian-bound oil tanker thought to be part of a "shadow fleet" defying Western sanctions on Moscow.​

 

[Saif]

Ukraine consults allies after talks with Russia yield no ceasefire

Ukraine rallied support from its Western allies on Friday after Kyiv and Moscow failed to agree to a ceasefire at their first direct talks in more than three years, with Russia presenting conditions that a Ukrainian source described as "non-starters". Under pressure from US President Donald Trump

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Ukraine consults allies after talks with Russia yield no ceasefire
REUTERS
Published :
May 16, 2025 22:05
Updated :
May 16, 2025 22:05

Service members of the 115th Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces fire a mortar towards Russian troops, at a position in a front line in Donetsk region, Ukraine May 16, 2025. Photo : REUTERS/Sofiia Gatilova

Ukraine rallied support from its Western allies on Friday after Kyiv and Moscow failed to agree to a ceasefire at their first direct talks in more than three years, with Russia presenting conditions that a Ukrainian source described as "non-starters".

Under pressure from US President Donald Trump to end the conflict, delegates from the warring countries met for the first time since March 2022, the month after Russia invaded its neighbour.

The talks in an Istanbul palace lasted well under two hours. Russia expressed satisfaction with the meeting and said it was ready to continue contacts. Both countries said they had agreed to trade 1,000 prisoners of war in what would be the biggest such exchange yet.

But Kyiv, which wants the West to impose tighter sanctions unless Moscow accepts a proposal from Trump for a 30-day ceasefire, immediately began rallying its allies for tougher action.

As soon as the talks ended, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy held a phone call with Trump and the leaders of France, Germany and Poland, Zelenskiy's spokesperson said.

Russia's demands were "detached from reality and go far beyond anything that was previously discussed," a source in the Ukrainian delegation told Reuters.

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Moscow had issued ultimatums for Ukraine to withdraw from parts of its own territory in order to obtain a ceasefire "and other non-starters and non-constructive conditions".

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the Russian position was "clearly unacceptable" and that European leaders, Ukraine and the US were "closely aligning" their responses.

A European diplomatic source said: "Nothing came out of these discussions." Zelenskiy said robust sanctions should follow if Russia rejected a ceasefire.

Russia's lead negotiator Vladimir Medinsky told reporters that his team had "taken note" of the Ukrainians' request for direct talks between Zelenskiy and President Vladimir Putin. Putin had spurned a challenge from the Ukrainian leader to meet him in Istanbul this week.

"We have agreed that each side will present its vision of a possible future ceasefire and spell it out in detail. After such a vision has been presented, we believe it would be appropriate, as also agreed, to continue our negotiations," Medinsky said.

TWO PATHS

Expectations for a major breakthrough, already low, were dented further on Thursday when Trump, winding up a Middle East tour, said there would be no movement without a meeting between himself and Putin.

Zelenskiy said Kyiv's top priority was "a full, unconditional and honest ceasefire... to stop the killing and create a solid basis for diplomacy".

Russia says it wants to end the war by diplomatic means and is ready to discuss a ceasefire. But it has raised a list of questions and concerns, saying Ukraine could use a pause to rest its forces, mobilise extra troops and acquire more western weapons.

Ukraine and its allies accuse Putin of stalling, and say he is not serious about wanting peace.

The negotiating teams sat opposite one another, with the Russians in suits and half of the Ukrainians wearing camouflage military fatigues.

"There are two paths ahead of us: one road will take us on a process that will lead to peace, while the other will lead to more destruction and death. The sides will decide on their own, with their own will, which path they choose," Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told them at the start of the meeting.

The Ukrainian source said the Ukrainians spoke in their own language, through an interpreter, although Russian is widely spoken and understood in Ukraine.

A Ukrainian and a European source said Russia had rejected a Ukrainian request that U.S. representatives should be in the room.

Two sources familiar with the talks said Medinsky had said Russia was ready to keep fighting for as long as necessary, drawing a historical parallel with the wars of Tsar Peter the Great against Sweden that lasted 21 years in the early 1700s.

"We do not want war, but we are ready to fight for a year, two, three — as long as you want," one of the sources quoted him as saying.

PUTIN STAYS AWAY

It was Putin who had proposed the direct talks in Turkey, but he spurned a challenge from Zelenskiy to meet him there in person, instead sending a team of mid-level officials. Ukraine responded by naming negotiators of similar rank.

Russia said on Friday it had captured another village in its slow, grinding advance in eastern Ukraine. Minutes before the start of the Istanbul meeting, Ukrainian media reported an air alert and explosions in the city of Dnipro.

Russia says it sees the talks as a continuation of the negotiations that took place in the early weeks of the war in 2022, also in Istanbul.

But the terms under discussion then, when Ukraine was still reeling from Russia's initial invasion, would be deeply disadvantageous to Kyiv. They included a demand by Moscow for large cuts to the size of Ukraine's military.

Zelenskiy's chief of staff Andriy Yermak said Russian attempts to align the new talks with the unsuccessful earlier negotiations would fail.

With Russian forces now in control of close to a fifth of Ukraine, Putin has held fast to his longstanding demands for Kyiv to cede territory, abandon its NATO membership ambitions and become a neutral country.

Ukraine rejects these terms as tantamount to capitulation, and is seeking guarantees of its future security from world powers, especially the United States.​

 

[Saif]

Russia says Ukraine talks yielded a prisoner swap deal, agreement to keep talking

Russia said on Friday that the first direct talks with Ukraine in more than three years had yielded a deal to swap 1,000 prisoners of war each soon and to resume talks after each side had set out its vision for a future ceasefire

www.thedailystar.net

Russia says Ukraine talks yielded a prisoner swap deal, agreement to keep talking

Vehicles arrive at the Turkish Presidency's Dolmabahce working office, where Russia and Ukraine direct talks might happen, in Istanbul, Turkey, May 16, 2025. Photo: Reuters/Leonhard Foeger
​

• Russia says it is satisfied with talks​
• Says two sides agreed to keep talking​
• Says each side will set out vision of future ceasefire​

Russia said on Friday that the first direct talks with Ukraine in more than three years had yielded a deal to swap 1,000 prisoners of war each soon and to resume talks after each side had set out its vision for a future ceasefire.

In a short statement shown live on Russian state TV after the negotiations in Istanbul had wrapped up, Vladimir Medinsky, the head of Russia's delegation, said that Moscow was satisfied with progress made and was ready to keep talking to Kyiv.

"In general, we are satisfied with the result and are ready to continue contacts. In the coming days, there will be a massive thousand-for-thousand prisoner exchange," said Medinsky.

That would be one of the largest exchanges of its kind since Russian President Vladimir Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022 in what he called a special military operation.

"The Ukrainian side requested direct talks between the leaders of our states. We have taken note of this request," Medinsky added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had challenged Putin to fly to Turkey for direct talks with him on Thursday, but Putin - who had proposed the talks in the first place but had not said who was going for Russia - sent a mid-level delegation of experienced negotiators instead.

In the event, the talks took place on Friday, not Thursday.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who has tried to pressure both sides to move towards a peace settlement, has said he wants a 30-day ceasefire in an attempt to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two.

Kyiv, which is on the defensive on the battlefield, has agreed to a 30-day ceasefire.

But Russia - which is slowly but steadily advancing on the battlefield and is worried that Ukraine will use such a pause to regroup and re-arm - has said it needs to nail down the terms of a ceasefire before signing up to one.

Medinsky said Russia and Ukraine had agreed to go away and set out in detail and in writing their vision for what a future ceasefire would look like.

"After such a vision has been presented, we believe it would be appropriate, as also agreed, to continue our negotiations," he said.

In an interview with state TV released after his statement, Medinsky said that history showed that ceasefires did not always precede peace talks and that negotiations had been held throughout the Korean and Vietnam wars while fighting raged.

"As a rule, as Napoleon said, war and negotiations are always conducted at the same time," said Medinsky.

The Kremlin said earlier on Friday that a meeting between Putin and Trump was essential to make progress on Ukraine and other issues, but needed considerable preparation and had to yield results when it happened.

The Russian and U.S. presidents have spoken by phone, but not met since Trump returned to the White House in January, despite both leaders expressing their desire for face-to-face talks.​

 

[Saif]

Trump says he will speak with Putin, Zelensky on Monday

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he will speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday to discuss stopping the war in Ukraine, days after the first face-to-face talks in three years between Russia and Ukraine took place in Istanbul. Trump had offered to travel to Turkey for the t

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Trump says he will speak with Putin, Zelensky on Monday
REUTERS
Published :
May 17, 2025 22:00
Updated :
May 17, 2025 22:00

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he will speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday to discuss stopping the war in Ukraine, days after the first face-to-face talks in three years between Russia and Ukraine took place in Istanbul.

Trump had offered to travel to Turkey for the talks while in the Gulf last week if Putin would also attend, but Putin declined to take him up on the offer.

The president has been pressuring Putin and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to agree to a ceasefire in the three-year-old war.

Trump said in a Truth Social post that his call with Putin will be on Monday at 10am Eastern (1400 GMT).

"THE SUBJECTS OF THE CALL WILL BE, STOPPING THE 'BLOODBATH' THAT IS KILLING, ON AVERAGE, MORE THAN 5000 RUSSIAN AND UKRAINIAN SOLDIERS A WEEK, AND TRADE," he said.

Trump said he would speak with Zelenskiy and various members of NATO afterwards.

"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," he wrote.

Russia has shown little inclination to make concessions in the Ukraine conflict.

Russian negotiators at the Istanbul peace talks on Friday demanded Ukraine pull its troops out of all Ukrainian regions claimed by Moscow before they would agree to a ceasefire, a senior Ukrainian official familiar with the talks told Reuters.​

 

[Saif]

Russia demanded Ukraine cede more territory at Turkey talks, Ukrainian source says

Russian negotiators at peace talks in Istanbul demanded Ukraine pull its troops out of all the Ukrainian regions claimed by Moscow before they would agree to a ceasefire, a senior Ukrainian official familiar with the talks told Reuters. That demand, along with others the Ukrainian official said we

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Russia demanded Ukraine cede more territory at Turkey talks, Ukrainian source says
REUTERS
Published :
May 17, 2025 16:33
Updated :
May 17, 2025 16:33

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan chairs a meeting between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators in Istanbul, Turkey, May 16, 2025. Photo : Arda Kucukkaya/Turkish Foreign Ministry/Handout via REUTERS

Russian negotiators at peace talks in Istanbul demanded Ukraine pull its troops out of all the Ukrainian regions claimed by Moscow before they would agree to a ceasefire, a senior Ukrainian official familiar with the talks told Reuters.

That demand, along with others the Ukrainian official said were made at Friday's talks, went beyond the terms of a draft peace deal that the United States proposed last month after consultations with Moscow.

The talks in Istanbul, the first direct contacts between the two sides in three years, ended with agreement for a prisoner exchange but failed to agree to a ceasefire. A Ukrainian source had said on Friday the Russians had made conditions he described as "non-starters", without giving details.

At a briefing with reporters on Saturday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was asked about the terms that, according to the Ukrainian official, Moscow put forward, but he declined to comment, saying the discussions need to take place behind closed doors.

The Ukrainian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to reveal details of the talks, said Russian proposed the following terms for a peace deal:

* The withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, only after which there can be a ceasefire. The regions are largely or partially controlled by Russian forces, but Ukrainian troops are still fighting to hold on to the remaining parts of the regions. There was no such demand in the draft deal prepared by the United States.

* International recognition that five parts of Ukraine -- the Crimea peninsula annexed in 2014, as well as the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions -- are Russian. The US draft had proposed only US de jure recognition for Crimea, and US de facto recognition for Russian-controlled parts of the other regions.

* Ukraine becomes a neutral state, has no weapons of mass destruction, and Kyiv's allies will not station any of their troops on Ukrainian soil. This demand was absent from the US proposal.

* All sides in the conflict renounce their claims to receive compensation for war damages. The US proposal had stipulated that Ukraine receives compensation.

According to the Ukrainian official, Russian negotiators transmitted those demands verbally, and did not share any document containing their terms.

Ukraine has already said the Russian negotiating position in Istanbul showed it was not serious about peace. Kyiv's European allies are now pressing US President Donald Trump to impose new sanctions on Russia.

The head of the Russian delegation at the talks expressed satisfaction with the meeting, and said Moscow was willing to keep talking to Kyiv.

The US draft peace proposal from April was prepared after Trump envoy Steve Witkoff flew to Moscow for rounds of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Kyiv and European allies drafted an alternative proposal, which stated there should be a ceasefire first so negotiations could start, and deferred any discussion of territory until later.​

 

[Saif]

Russia launches war’s largest drone attack after peace talks, Ukraine says

The largest known Russian drone attack since full-scale war began in 2022 killed a woman in the Kyiv region and injured at least three people, Ukrainian authorities said early on Sunday, as Moscow stepped up strikes following peace talks on Friday. Russia launched 273 drones by 8 a.m. local time (

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Russia launches war’s largest drone attack after peace talks, Ukraine says
REUTERS
Published :
May 18, 2025 20:07
Updated :
May 18, 2025 20:07

Firefighters work at the site of a private enterprise hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, outside of Kyiv, Ukraine May 18, 2025. Photo : REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

The largest known Russian drone attack since full-scale war began in 2022 killed a woman in the Kyiv region and injured at least three people, Ukrainian authorities said early on Sunday, as Moscow stepped up strikes following peace talks on Friday.

Russia launched 273 drones by 8 a.m. local time (0500 GMT), targeting chiefly the central Kyiv region and the Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions in the country’s east, Ukraine’s air force said.

Based on data provided by the air force, this was Russia’s largest drone attack on Ukraine of the war. On the eve of the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 23, Moscow launched a then-record 267 drones.

The first direct talks in three years between Russia and Ukraine on Friday failed to broker the temporary ceasefire Kyiv and its allies have been urging. The 100 minutes of talks in Istanbul yielded an agreement to trade 1,000 prisoners of war on each side.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he would speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday.

The sustained overnight Russian drone attack on Sunday killed a 28-year-old woman in the capital region and injured at least three people, including a 4-year-old child, Ukrainian authorities said.

“Unfortunately, as a result of the enemy attack in the Obukhiv district, a woman died from her injuries,” Mykola Kalashnik, governor of the Kyiv region, posted on Telegram.

Kyiv and the region around it as well as the eastern part of Ukraine were under raid warnings for nine straight hours overnight before they were called off at around 9 a.m. local time (0600 GMT). Air defence units were engaged several times trying to repel attacks, the military said on Telegram.

“It’s been a tough night. The Russians have always used war and attacks to intimidate everyone in negotiations,” Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Centre for Countering Disinformation, said on Telegram about Sunday’s attack.

Air defence units destroyed 88 of the drones overnight. The attack also included 128 simulator drones that were lost along the way without hitting anything, Ukraine’s air force said in a statement on Telegram.

On Saturday, a Russian drone attack killed nine civilians after hitting a shuttle bus in the Sumy region in northeastern Ukraine, Kyiv said. Zelenskiy called the attack “deliberate” and urged stronger sanctions on Moscow, which said it had attacked a military facility.

All of those injured in the Obukhiv district just south of Kyiv city were hospitalised, Kalashnik said. Several residential buildings were damaged in the area, he added.

In the city of Kyiv, fragments of a destroyed drone damaged the roof of a non-residential building, the city’s military administration said on Telegram. There were no reports of injuries, it added.

Reuters witnesses in and around Kyiv heard blasts that sounded like air defence units in operation. There was no immediate comment from Russia.

Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war, but thousands have been killed in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian.​

 

[Saif]

Trump says will speak to Putin to end Ukraine 'bloodbath'

Kremlin had said that a meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would be possible only after both sides reach an agreement.

en.prothomalo.com

Trump says will speak to Putin to end Ukraine 'bloodbath'
AFPKYIV, Ukraine
Published: 18 May 2025, 08: 40

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin AFP

US President Donald Trump said Saturday he would speak by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the "bloodbath" in Ukraine, a day after the first direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in more than three years.

Trump, who has been pressing Russia to agree a 30-day unconditional ceasefire, said he would speak with him by phone on Monday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told the state TASS news agency the call was "being prepared".

Earlier Saturday, the Kremlin had said that a meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would be possible only after both sides reach an agreement.

That came a day after direct talks between the two countries led to an agreement for another exchange of prisoners.

Early Saturday, a Russian drone attack on a minibus carrying evacuated civilians in Ukraine's eastern Sumy region killed nine people and wounded five, local authorities said.

Zelensky, denouncing the attack and Russia's refusal so far to agree a ceasefire, repeated his call for fresh sanctions against Moscow.

"Without stronger sanctions, without stronger pressure on Russia, there will be no real diplomacy there," he insisted.

On Friday in Istanbul, the first direct Ukraine-Russia talks since the spring of 2022 -- shortly after Moscow's full-scale invasion that February -- led to an agreement to exchange 1,000 prisoners each.

Ukraine's top negotiator, Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, said the "next step" would be a meeting between Zelensky and Putin.

Russia said it had taken note of the request.

"We consider it possible, but only as a result of the work and upon achieving certain results in the form of an agreement between the two sides," the Kremlin's spokesman said.

Trump denounces 'bloodbath'
Russia's top negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said Moscow and Kyiv would "present their vision of a possible future ceasefire", without saying when.

The Kremlin said that first the POW swap had to be completed and both sides need to present their visions for a ceasefire before fixing the next round of talks.

"For now, we need to do what the delegations agreed on yesterday" in Turkey, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, which meant "first and foremost to complete a 1,000 for 1,000 swap".

The head of Ukraine's military intelligence, Kirillo Budanov, told broadcaster TSN he hoped the exchange would happen next week.

Posting on Truth Social Saturday, Trump said he would speak to Putin on Monday to discuss finding a way out of the "BLOODBATH".

Afterwards, he added, he would speak to Zelensky and NATO officials, expressing hope that a "ceasefire will take place, and this very violent war... will end".

Both Moscow and Washington have already stressed the need for a meeting on the conflict between Putin and Trump.

Trump has argued that "nothing's going to happen" on the conflict until he meets Putin face-to-face.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed the latest prisoner exchange in a telephone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

And in an interview with CBS, he said Lavrov had told him Moscow was preparing a document outlining its requirements for a ceasefire.

If Russia and Moscow can both provide "serious and viable" proposals "then there's been real progress, and we can work off of that," Rubio said.

Fighting goes on

The attack on the bus happened near the city of Bilopillya, local community head Yuri Zarko told Suspilne TV. A family of three were among the dead, the authorities said.

Elsewhere on the frontlines, the Russian army said its troops captured Oleksandropil village in the eastern Donetsk region, site of some of the most intense fighting.

As well as Sumy, Russia also pounded eastern Ukraine with missiles and drones, killing six and wounding more than a dozen, officials said. In Kherson, Russian shelling hit a truck carrying humanitarian aid Saturday morning.

Zelensky accused Putin of being "afraid" after he declined to Travel to Turkey for talks and argued that Russia was not taking the talks seriously.

"Yesterday in Istanbul, everyone saw a weak and unprepared Russian delegation with no significant powers. This must change. We need real steps to end the war," Zelensky said Saturday.

On Friday, Zelensky had called for a "strong reaction" from the world, including new sanctions, if the Istanbul talks failed.

Macron said European nations were coordinating with Washington on additional sanctions should Moscow continue to refuse an "unconditional ceasefire."

On Saturday, Zelensky said he had spoken to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney about fresh and effective sanctions against Russia.

During the Istanbul talks, the Ukrainian side said Russia had made "unacceptable" territorial demands.

Moscow claims annexation of five Ukrainian regions -- four since its 2022 invasion, and Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.​

 

[Saif]

Trump speaks to Putin amid 'impasse' on ending war in Ukraine

US President Donald Trump spoke to Russia's Vladimir Putin on Monday about peace in Ukraine after Washington said there was an impasse over ending Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two and that the United States may have to walk away. President Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Trump speaks to Putin amid 'impasse' on ending war in Ukraine
REUTERS
Published :
May 19, 2025 21:56
Updated :
May 19, 2025 21:56

Firefighters work at the site of a private enterprise hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, outside of Kyiv, Ukraine May 18, 2025. Photo : REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

US President Donald Trump spoke to Russia's Vladimir Putin on Monday about peace in Ukraine after Washington said there was an impasse over ending Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two and that the United States may have to walk away.

President Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, triggering the gravest confrontation between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

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.

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 realize 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."

"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.'"

PEACE OR WAR

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 Zelenskiy 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.

In June 2024, Putin said Ukraine must officially drop its NATO ambitions and withdraw its troops from the entire territory of the four Ukrainian regions Russia claims.

On Sunday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer discussed Russia's war against Ukraine with leaders of the United States, Italy, France and Germany, a Downing Street spokesperson said.

"Tomorrow (Monday) President Putin must show he wants peace by accepting the 30-day unconditional ceasefire proposed by President Trump and backed by Ukraine and Europe," French President Emmanuel Macron said on X after Sunday's call.

Putin is wary of a ceasefire and says fighting cannot be paused until a number of crucial conditions are worked out or clarified.​

 

[Saif]

Zelensky accuses Russia of buying time to stall peace talks

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia on Tuesday of delaying peace talks in a bid to pursue its three-year invasion, even as US president Donald Trump pushes for an immediate ceasefire...

www.newagebd.net

Zelensky accuses Russia of buying time to stall peace talks
Agence France-Presse . Kyiv, Ukraine 21 May, 2025, 00:08

Volodymyr Zelensky | AFP file photo

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia on Tuesday of delaying peace talks in a bid to pursue its three-year invasion, even as US president Donald Trump pushes for an immediate ceasefire.

Trump spoke by phone on Monday to both Zelensky and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, while Russian and Ukrainian officials met in Istanbul on Friday for their first direct talks on the conflict in more than three years.

The talks failed to yield a truce, and Zelensky accused Putin of sending ‘empty heads’ to the negotiating table.

‘It is obvious that Russia is trying to buy time in order to continue its war and occupation,’ Zelensky said in a post on social media.

Trump framed his two-hour conversation with Putin, the third so far this year, as a breakthrough.

The Republican is seeking an elusive deal to end the war that he had promised on the election campaign trail to solve in 24 hours.

But Putin again rebuffed the call for a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire, instead saying only that he was ready to work with Ukraine on a ‘memorandum’ outlining a possible roadmap and different positions on ending the war.

Moscow is feeling confident, with its troops advancing on the battlefield and Trump having resumed dialogue with Putin after almost three years of the West shunning the Kremlin chief.

‘The memorandum buys time for Russia,’ Russian political analyst Konstantin Kalachev said.

‘The cessation of hostilities is not a condition for it, which means that Russia can continue its offensive,’ he added.

Zelensky said on Monday he had no details of what this ‘memorandum’ would be but was willing to look at Russia’s ideas.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and has since destroyed swathes of the country’s east, killed tens of thousands and now controls around one-fifth of its territory.

People who spoke to AFP both in Kyiv and Moscow were sceptical about peace prospects and thought the Putin-Trump call had not bring them closer.

‘I never had any faith in him and now I have none at all,’ a retired teacher Victoria Kyseliova said in Kyiv, when asked if she was losing confidence in Trump.

Vitaliy, a 53-year-old engineer from Kyiv, said Trump was no ‘messiah’ and that his flurry of diplomacy has changed little.

Ukrainian political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko said Trump’s latest calls had only added to the uncertainty.

‘This conversation not only failed to clarify the future of the negotiations but further confused the situation,’ he said.

He said Trump had fallen for Putin’s tactics of trying to use talks ‘as a cover to continue and intensify the war’.

In Moscow, there was defiance and confidence.

‘I believe that we don’t need these negotiations. We will win anyway,’ Marina, a 70-year-old former engineer, said.

Ukraine and Europe are trying to put pressure on Trump to impose on Moscow a new package of massive sanctions after Putin declined to travel to Turkey for face-to-face talks with Zelensky.

Kyiv accused Moscow’s negotiators of making unrealistic demands at the Istanbul talks, including sweeping territorial claims that Ukraine has repeatedly rejected.

Zelensky said on Monday that Kyiv and its allies needed to ‘work hard’ to convince Trump of the need for more sanctions.

On Tuesday, the European Union formally adopted its 17th round of sanctions on Moscow, targeting 200 vessels of Russia’s so-called shadow maritime fleet, and drawing fire from Russia.

‘Western politicians and the media are making titanic efforts to disrupt the constructive dialogue between Russia and the United States,’ said Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s Direct Investment Fund and lead economic negotiator with the United States.

Russia has successfully withstood sanctions, rerouting its vital oil and gas supplies to India and China.

Zelensky said he had discussed preparations for the next sanctions package with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.

‘Russian oil, energy trade infrastructure, banks and financial schemes — these are the areas that hurt Russia the most and therefore contribute the most to peace,’ he said.

The Ukrainian president added he was closely coordinating every step with the European partners following yesterday’s conversation with Trump.

Russia’s key ally China said on Tuesday it also backed direct dialogue between the warring sides.

‘It is hoped that the parties concerned will carry on with the dialogue to reach a fair, lasting and binding peace agreement acceptable to all parties,’ foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.​

 

[Saif]

Ukraine pitches tougher Russia sanctions plan to EU as US wavers

Ukraine will ask the EU next week to consider big new steps to isolate Moscow, including seizing Russian assets and bringing in sanctions for some buyers of Russian oil, as US President Donald Trump has backed off from tightening sanctions. A previously unreported Ukrainian white paper to be prese

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Ukraine pitches tougher Russia sanctions plan to EU as US wavers
REUTERS
Published :
May 21, 2025 16:40
Updated :
May 21, 2025 17:06
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Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, France's President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk speak with US President Donald Trump via phone during the European Political Community Summit inTirana, Albania May 16, 2025. Photo : Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS/Files

Ukraine will ask the EU next week to consider big new steps to isolate Moscow, including seizing Russian assets and bringing in sanctions for some buyers of Russian oil, as US President Donald Trump has backed off from tightening sanctions.

A previously unreported Ukrainian white paper to be presented to the EU calls for the 27-member bloc to take a more aggressive and independent position on sanctions as uncertainty hangs over Washington's future role.

Among 40 pages of recommendations were calls to adopt legislation that would speed up the EU's seizure of assets from sanctioned individuals, and send them to Ukraine. Those under sanctions could then seek compensation from Russia.

The EU should consider a range of steps to make its sanctions apply more forcefully beyond its own territory, including targeting foreign companies that use its technology to help Russia, and "the introduction of secondary sanctions on purchasers of Russian oil".

Such secondary sanctions, which could hit big buyers such as India and China, would be a major step that Europe has so far been reluctant to take. Trump had publicly discussed this before taking the decision not to act for now.

The white paper also calls for the EU to consider using more majority-rules decision making over sanctions, to prevent individual member states from blocking measures that otherwise require unanimity.

After speaking to Putin on Monday, Trump opted not to impose fresh sanctions on Russia, dashing hopes of European leaders and Kyiv who had been lobbying him for weeks to ratchet up pressure on Moscow.

Trump spoke to Ukrainian and European leaders after his call with Putin and told them he didn't want to impose sanctions now and to give time for talks to take place, a person familiar with conversation told Reuters.

The EU and Britain imposed additional sanctions against Russia on Tuesday anyway, saying they still hope Washington will join them. But Europeans are openly discussing ways they can maintain pressure on Moscow if Washington is no longer prepared to participate.

Britain suffered a bigger than expected inflation surge in April.

'CATALYSE THE EU'

Publicly, Ukraine has tried to avoid any hint of criticism of Washington since President Volodymyr Zelenskiy received a dressing down from Trump in the White House in February.

The sanctions white paper emphasises the "unprecedented" sanctions imposed by the EU so far and talks up their potential to do more. It also includes a stark assessment of the Trump administration's commitment to coordination efforts so far.

"Today, in practice, Washington has ceased participation in nearly all intergovernmental platforms focused on sanctions and export control," it said.

Washington had slowed work in the monitoring group for enforcing price caps on Russian oil, dissolved a federal taskforce focused on prosecuting sanctions violations and reassigned a significant number of sanctions experts to other sectors, it added.

It noted that two potentially major US sanctions packages had been drawn up - one by the government and another by pro-Trump senator Lindsey Graham - but that it was "uncertain" whether Trump would sign off on either of them.

Uncertainty over the US stance had slowed the pace of economic countermeasures and multilateral coordination, but "should not prompt the European Union to ease sanctions pressure", it said.

"On the contrary, it should catalyse the EU to assume a leading role in this domain."

'HUGE STRIKE'

Ukraine is worried that Washington peeling away from the Western consensus on sanctions could also cause vacillation in the EU, which traditionally requires consensus for major decisions.

"American withdrawal from the sanctions regime (would) be a huge strike on the unity of the EU. Huge," a senior Ukrainian government official told Reuters.

The EU cannot fully replace the heft of the United States in applying economic pressure on Russia. Much of the impact of US sanctions comes from the dominance of the dollar in global trade, which the euro cannot match.

Still, US sanctions relief for Russia would not spur a significant return of foreign investors and investment if Europe held firm, said Craig Kennedy, a Russian energy expert at the Davis Center, Harvard.

"Europe holds a lot more cards than you'd think," he said.​