President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday in an effort he says is aimed at halting the ongoing bloodshed in Ukraine.
Trump announced that the call is set for 10 a.m., though he did not clarify which time zone. He also stated he plans to hold conversations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and leaders from NATO.
In the lead-up to the high-stakes Trump-Putin conversation, Trump reportedly held talks on Sunday with leaders from the UK, France, Germany, and Italy. A statement from the British government emphasized their call for Putin to take peace negotiations seriously.
The leaders also discussed imposing sanctions on Russia should it fail to engage meaningfully in ceasefire and peace discussions — a strategy Trump himself has previously endorsed.
“President Putin must demonstrate a willingness for peace by agreeing to the 30-day unconditional ceasefire proposed by President Trump and supported by Ukraine and European nations,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in a statement.
Despite the diplomatic efforts, the conflict in Ukraine continues unabated. Russian forces persist with regular drone and missile strikes targeting civilian areas, more than three years after launching a full-scale invasion and attempting to seize Kyiv.
On Sunday, Russian shelling struck residential areas in Kherson, killing a 75-year-old woman and injuring two others, according to the city council via Telegram.
In a post on Truth Social Saturday, Trump reiterated that his Monday call with Putin is intended to help end the violence, which he claimed is claiming over 5,000 Russian and Ukrainian lives each week — though NBC News has not verified those figures. The Kremlin also confirmed the scheduled call, with Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov speaking to Russian state media.
Referring to his upcoming talks with Putin, Zelenskyy, and European allies, Trump expressed hope that Monday would be a turning point. “Hopefully, it will be a productive day, a ceasefire will be achieved, and this brutal war — a war that never should have started — will finally come to an end,” he said.
Although Trump had previously vowed to end the war within 24 hours of taking office, the complexity of the situation has proven more challenging in reality.
Recent U.S.-mediated negotiations led to a rare in-person meeting between Russian and Ukrainian officials in Istanbul — the first since early in the conflict. However, the path to peace remains fraught, with Russia demanding terms amounting to Ukraine’s surrender — a condition Kyiv rejects as unacceptable.
