U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone, as the American president continues his push to settle the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Trump said he believed his call with the Russian leader went well.
“The tone and spirit of the conversation was excellent,” he wrote in a May 19 post on his Truth Social platform.
In his Monday post, Trump indicated he spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders immediately after he wrapped up his call with Putin.
Trump said he informed Zelenskyy and the other European leaders that negotiations would begin immediately.
Last month, Trump threatened to pull back from his efforts to mediate a peace deal if he didn’t see more signs of progress from both sides.
These planned calls come after Russian and Ukrainian representatives met in Istanbul, Turkey, on May 16.
The Istanbul meeting marked the first round of direct talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives in more than three years of fighting.
Zelenskyy had called for a direct meeting with Putin in Istanbul, but the Russian leader declined the offer.
Proceeding as a lower-level discussion, Ukrainian and Russian delegates instead agreed to release 1,000 of their prisoners of war each.
This is a developing story and will be updated with additional details.
