Trump Says Will Speak to Putin to End Ukraine 'Bloodbath'

First Russia-Ukraine talks in 3 years failed; Putin skipped, sending lower-level officials

- AGENCIES

United States President Donald Trump says he will phone his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, followed by Ukraine's leader and NATO allies on Monday in a push to bring the Ukraine war to an end. "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 Saturday.

Trump's remarks come a day after the first Moscow-Kyiv talks in three years failed to yield a ceasefire agreement. Putin had declined an invitation from Zelenskyy to attend Friday's talks, sending a lower-level delegation in his place, a move that led Zelenskyy to say the Russian leader was not taking peace efforts "seriously".