Donald Trump to speak to Putin, Zelensky to stop ‘BLOODBATH’ killing 5000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers a week

US President Donald Trump on Friday said that he will speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, May 19 to stop the ‘bloodbath’ in that is killing “5,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers” in a week on average.

The US President said he will also talk to his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky as well as various NATO members.

“I will be speaking, by telephone, to President Vladimir Putin of Russia on Monday, at 10:00 a.m. The subjects of the call will be stopping the “bloodbath” that is killing, on average, more than 5,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers a week, and trade. I will then be speaking to President Zelenskyy of Ukraine and then, with President Zelenskyy, various members of NATO,” he said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social in all caps, his signature style.

Trump hoped that his discussions with the parties involved in the war will result in a ceasefire and put an end to the ‘violent’ Russia Ukraine war.

“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. God bless us all!” he said.

Donald Trump’s comments come a day after Moscow and Kyiv had held their first direct peace talks in years in Istanbul. However, the talks that lasted for only 1 hour 40 minutes failed to yield a ceasefire.

The US President has been trying to broker peace between the two countries, with his administration regularly highlighting the killings as a result of the long war.

Russia-Ukraine talks fail

On Friday, delegations from Russia and Ukraine held their first direct talks in more than three years, which did not result in a truce.

The morning after the talks, a Russian drone attack on a minibus carrying evacuated civilians in the eastern Sumy region killed nine people and wounded five, local authorities said.

“Yesterday, as on any day of this war, there was an opportunity to cease fire,” Zelensky wrote on social media following the attack, adding that “Russia only retains the opportunity to continue killing”.

Following the talks, Kyiv said that Russia had sent to Istanbul “a weak and unprepared” delegation without a meaningful mandate while real steps were needed to end the war.