Trump to Hold Calls with Putin and Zelensky on the 19th...Will This Lead to a Ceasefire Breakthrough?

With U.S. President Donald Trump set to hold back-to-back phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the 19th (local time), attention is focused on whether this could provide a breakthrough in the stalled negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

This will be the third publicly disclosed phone conversation between President Trump and President Putin since Trump took office. Previously, on February 12, President Trump held consecutive calls with President Putin and President Zelensky, officially launching his diplomatic mediation for an end to the war. On March 18, Trump and Putin spoke again and agreed on a "30-day halt to attacks on energy infrastructure."

AP Yonhap News

This latest round of calls comes as Ukraine has agreed to the U.S. proposal for an "unconditional 30-day ceasefire," but Russia has not responded positively, leading to growing frustration for President Trump. On May 11, President Putin proposed resuming direct negotiations with Ukraine, but rejected President Zelensky's counterproposal for a summit meeting. As a result, negotiations between Russia and Ukraine took place in Istanbul on May 16, but no agreement was reached regarding a ceasefire.

Ultimately, the key point of interest in these calls is whether President Trump can persuade President Putin to change his stance on direct dialogue between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders and on an unconditional ceasefire.

Unlike the previous two Trump-Putin calls, this communication is taking place at a time when President Trump's pro-Putin and pro-Russian inclinations, which were evident at the outset of his mediation efforts, have somewhat diminished.

Back in February, during the U.S.-Ukraine summit at the White House, President Trump appeared to pressure Ukraine to make concessions for a ceasefire, to the point of almost forcing President Zelensky out. However, the U.S. position began to shift as Russia took a more hardline stance, demanding not only the Ukrainian territories it currently occupies as a condition for ending the war, but also additional territories not under its control.

On April 23, shortly after Russia launched a massive airstrike on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, President Trump urged "Vladimir, stop" via social media. Then, on April 26, he suggested that President Putin seemed uninterested in ending the war and hinted that the U.S. could impose financial sanctions on Russia.