By Kavita Mistry 
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday (May 18, 2025) 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.
Mr. Trump, who has been pressing Russia to agree on a 30-day unconditional ceasefire, said he would speak with Mr. Putin by phone on Monday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told the State TASS news agency the call was “being prepared”.
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Earlier Saturday, the Kremlin had said that a meeting between Mr. Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 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.
Mr. Zelenskyy, denouncing the attack and Russia’s refusal so far to agree on 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 Sunday morning, local authorities in the Kyiv region reported that a woman had been killed in a drone attack in Obukhiv district.
Another woman, a man and a four-year-old child were wounded in the strike, which hit a private house, Mykola Kalashnyk, head of the Kyiv region’s military administration, wrote in a Telegram post.
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.
Trump denounces ‘bloodbath’ =
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 spokesperson said.
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, Mr. Trump said he would speak to Mr. 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.
Mr. Trump has argued that “nothing’s going to happen” on the conflict until he meets Mr. Putin face-to-face.
Published – May 18, 2025 10:10 am IST