Trump says Russia and Ukraine will negotiate an immediate ceasefire

In a social media post, Mr. Trump said he had forwarded the plan to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as well as the leaders of the European Union (EU), France, Italy, Germany and Finland in a group call after talks with the Russian leader.

"Russia and Ukraine will immediately begin negotiations toward a ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War," Trump said, adding at the White House that he thought "some progress has been made."

In contrast to Mr. Trump's move, European leaders decided to increase pressure on Russia through sanctions after being briefed by Mr. Trump on the call with Mr. Putin, according to a post on social network X by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz late on May 19.

Asked why he had not imposed new sanctions to push Moscow towards a peace deal as he had threatened, Mr Trump told reporters: "Because I think there's a chance to get something done, and if you do (impose sanctions), you could make things much worse. But maybe at some point that will happen."

Mr Trump also hinted there were "some big egos involved" and warned he could abandon the process if there was no progress, repeating, "This is not my fight."

On the Russian side, after a phone call with Mr. Trump, President Putin said that efforts to end the war "are generally on the right track" and Moscow is ready to work with Ukraine on a potential peace agreement.

"We have agreed with the US president that Russia will propose and is ready to work with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum on a possible peace agreement in the future," Putin said near the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

European and Ukrainian leaders have previously asked Russia to agree to an immediate ceasefire, and Mr. Trump has focused on persuading Mr. Putin to commit to a 30-day truce. However, Mr. Putin has resisted this, insisting that conditions must be met first.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Mr Trump and Mr Putin did not discuss a timetable for a ceasefire but did discuss exchanging nine Russians for nine Americans in a prisoner swap. Mr. Ushakov also said that the US leader called the prospects for relations between Moscow and Washington "impressive."

Russian state news agencies quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that Moscow and Kiev faced "complicated contacts" to draw up a unified text on a peace and ceasefire memorandum.

"There are no deadlines and there cannot be any. It is clear that everyone wants to do this as quickly as possible, but, of course, the devil is in the details," RIA news agency quoted Mr. Peskov as saying.

Former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt commented on X that the call with Mr. Trump was “without a doubt a victory for Mr. Putin.” According to Mr. Bildt, the Russian leader “deflected calls for an immediate ceasefire… and instead was able to continue military operations and put pressure on the negotiating table.”

Summit

After a phone call with Mr Trump, President Zelensky said Kiev and its partners could seek a summit between Ukraine, Russia, the US, European Union countries and Britain as part of efforts to end the war.

He expressed hope that the meeting could take place soon and be hosted by Türkiye, the Vatican or Switzerland. It was not immediately clear whether it would be part of the talks that Mr Trump said would begin immediately.

Mr Trump said Pope Leo had expressed interest in having the Vatican host the talks. The Vatican did not immediately comment on the report.

A source familiar with Mr Trump's calls with Ukrainian and European leaders said participants were "shocked" that Mr Trump did not want to pressure Mr Putin with sanctions.

In a post on X, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said only that the conversation with Mr Trump was "good" and "it is important that the US remains engaged".

Ukraine and its backers have accused Russia of not negotiating in good faith, doing only the minimum necessary to keep Mr. Trump from imposing further pressure on the Russian economy.

If Mr Trump imposes new sanctions, it would be a watershed moment as he appears to be sympathetic to Russia and has reversed the pro-Ukraine policies of his predecessor Joe Biden.

Urged by Mr Trump, delegations from the warring countries met last week in Istanbul for the first time since 2022, in the early months of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but those talks failed to produce a ceasefire.

Prospects for progress dimmed after Mr Putin rejected Mr Zelensky's proposal to meet face-to-face in Istanbul, and Mr Trump said there would be no movement unless he and Mr Putin met.

President Putin, whose forces control a fifth of Ukraine and are advancing, has stuck to his terms for ending the war. He said the memorandum that Russia and Ukraine will draw up on a future peace treaty would define “a number of positions, for example the principles of settlement, the timing of a possible peace agreement”.

"The main thing for us is to eliminate the root causes of this crisis," Mr. Putin stressed. "We just need to identify the most effective ways to move toward peace."