Trump open to join a peace summit in Istanbul with Putin and Zelenskyy, as Russian and Ukrainian negotiators failed to agree on a ceasefire. The White House stressed Trump’s attendance depends on both sides’ serious commitment to peace, while fighting and stalemates continue to plague the conflict.
read more
US President Donald Trump is open to attending a proposed peace summit in Istanbul with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the White House announced on Monday, indicating a potential high-stakes diplomatic intervention as the war continues.
“The president has said he’s open to it if it comes to that, but he wants both of these leaders and both sides to come to the table together,” US Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a press briefing.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
The announcement came as Russian and Ukrainian negotiators met in Istanbul for a
second round of peace talks
. While both sides agreed to a large-scale prisoner exchange, the talks failed to produce a breakthrough on a ceasefire.
Ukrainian delegate Sergiy Kyslytsya said Moscow once again rejected Kyiv’s proposal for an unconditional halt to hostilities. “The Russian side continued to reject the motion of an unconditional ceasefire,” he told reporters following the discussions.
Russia has consistently resisted ceasefire proposals it views as opportunities for Ukraine to regroup and resupply, particularly as Russian forces press forward in contested regions.
After the talks, Russian state news agencies Tass and RIA Novosti published the text of the Russian memorandum, which suggested that Ukraine withdraw its forces from the four regions that Russia annexed in September 2022 but never fully captured as a condition for a ceasefire.
As an alternate way of reaching a truce, the memorandum presses Ukraine to halt its mobilization efforts and freeze Western arms deliveries, conditions were suggested earlier by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The document also suggests that Ukraine stop any redeployment of forces a