Trump set for Monday calls with Putin and Zelenskyy
發佈日期: 2025-05-19 21:04
TVB News
U.S. President Donald Trump is set to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, hoping to secure an immediate ceasefire in the war with Ukraine.
Trump will also speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO members after last week's meeting in Turkey between Moscow and Kyiv delegations failed to produce concrete results. Putin, though, has stood firm in his conditions for a ceasefire.
Russian President Vladimir Putin marked out clear territory ahead of his phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump in an interview aired on state television. It's a stance that he hasn't budged from since late 2022 after Moscow annexed four Ukraine provinces.
He said Russia has the strength and the resources to achieve its military goals and remove the causes that led to the war with Ukraine.
He's effectively saying that he will not give up the provinces of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, where "people consider Russian to be their native language and who consider Russia to be their homeland."
With Trump expected to call for a halt to the "bloodbath," Putin has said he would only agree to a 30-day ceasefire if Ukraine withdraws all their troops from the four regions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his European allies are worried that Trump's version of a peace plan is to give Putin what he wants, which also includes Crimea and preventing Ukraine from joining NATO.
Zelenskyy on Sunday met U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance in Rome, where they both attended Pope Leo XIV's first mass. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was also at the meeting.
The Ukrainian leader released pictures of the two sitting and smiling, in contrast to their heated February meeting at the White House where the pair clashed and Vance accused Zelenskyy of being ungrateful.
Trump on Monday will also speak to Zelenskyy, who said he is ready for an immediate, unconditional ceasefire. Zelenskyy and his wife, Olena Zelenska, also had a meeting with the pope, who earlier called for an end to the war. They sat down for a brief meeting, and exchanged gifts.
Meanwhile, the war continues with Russia sending a message that they are in no mood to back down.
Russia launched one of its most intense drone attacks on Ukraine since the start of the war, firing a total of 273 exploding drones and decoys on Kyiv.
Ukraine said 88 drones were intercepted and a further 128 lost, while a 28-year-old woman was killed and three others injured.
