Trump To Speak With Putin, Zelenskyy On Monday

President Donald Trump announced he’ll be speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin — and then with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shortly after — as he looks to broker a deal to end the war in Ukraine.

Negotiations on the war that Trump promised to end on “Day One” of his term have dragged on over the last four months, with the administration’s patience growing thinner as Russia’s ground operation in Ukraine continues despite global calls for a ceasefire.

Now, Trump said he’ll be talking with both parties, and other key leaders from NATO, on Monday morning to stop the “bloodbath.”

“HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE A PRODUCTIVE DAY, A CEASEFIRE WILL TAKE PLACE, AND THIS VERY VIOLENT WAR, A WAR THAT SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED, WILL END,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday.

Trump added that he’ll also be discussing trade with Putin on the call. Several Republicans including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) have pushed for the president to institute new punitive economic sanctions on Russia for refusing to come to the negotiating table.

Trump has threatened Russia before — saying he could levy additional sanctions if he believes Putin is stringing him along and won’t make a deal.

“I will use that if I have to, I would rather not use that,” Trump told Bret Baier on Fox News on Friday.

Trump vowed earlier this week he will “stay committed” to negotiating peace between Ukraine and Russia, backing an unconditional 30-day ceasefire that European leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron and Zelenskyy were pressuring Russia to accept.

Zelenskyy, along with key NATO leaders and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, traveled on Friday to Turkey for peace talks that Putin was said to attend before sending a representative from the Kremlin. Hours later, a Russian drone strike in northern Ukraine killed nearly a dozen people.

Rubio forecasted no “major breakthrough” at the peace talks — which were the first direct conversations between officials from the warring countries since 2022.

“The only way we’re going to have a breakthrough here is between President Trump and President Putin,” Rubio told reporters in Turkey.

In his quest to get a ceasefire deal signed, Trump has lambasted Zelenskyy and criticized Ukraine for not doing more to end the war that Russia started. He and Vice President JD Vance dressed down Zelenskyy during his Oval Office visit in February after calling him a “dictator without elections.” Trump has also stoked fears in Europe regarding his friendship with Putin, leading to concerns that a deal between the two countries could include Russian annexation of key territories in Ukraine.

Trump remained optimistic this week about the chances of a deal, saying on Fox News that Putin is at the table prepared to talk.

“I'm tired of having other people go and meet and everything else,” Trump said Friday. “I think I'm the only one that's going to be able to do that one. And I think we will do it fast, too.”