US President Donald Trump spoke with reporters in the Oval Office Monday evening about his phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier in the day, telling the press, "I do believe he wants to end it."
In a social media post shortly after separate calls with the leaders of both countries, Trump said Russia and Ukraine will “immediately” begin ceasefire negotiations. Still, the conversations did not appear to yield a major breakthrough.
Later speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, he noted the process has “got very big egos involved, I tell you.”
"Big egos involved. But I think something’s going to happen and, if it doesn’t I’d just back away and they have to keep going,” Trump said. “This was a European situation. It should have remained a European situation.”
Trump also said he told Putin, “We’ve got to get going.”
"I said, when are we going to end this, Vladimir? I've known him for a long time now. I said, When are we gonna end this bloodshed, this blood bath? It's a blood bath. And I do believe he wants to end it," Trump said.
The president also told reporters the Vatican expressed interest in hosting the negotiations, but there was no immediate confirmation that any talks had been scheduled.
Trump has struggled to end a war that began with Russia’s invasion in February 2022, a setback for his promises to quickly settle the conflict once he was back in the White House, if not before he took office.
The Republican president is banking on the idea that his force of personality and personal history with Putin will be enough to break any impasse over a pause in the fighting. He dangled the prospect of reduced sanctions and increased trade with Russia should the war end.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by HOOK Desk and is published from a syndicated feed AP.)
