Trump Plans Talks With Putin, Zelensky on Monday

After saying there'll be no movement toward peace in the war over Ukraine until he and Russian President Vladimir Putin have a meeting of the minds, President Trump said he plans to talk to him on Monday. Trump posted Saturday that he plans to talk to Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in separate calls, the Independent reports. "The subjects of the call will be stopping the 'Bloodbath' that is killing, on average, more than 5000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers a week, and trade," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Putin sat out direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia held this week in Turkey, though he had proposed the talks himself. The talks did not produce a ceasefire agreement, but negotiators agreed to a prisoner exchange, per the AP. The State Department said Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Saturday about the peace talks, per NBC News. Hours after the two delegations left Istanbul, a Russian drone hit a bus carrying civilians being evacuated from a front-line area in the Sumy region, killing nine people, Ukrainian officials said. Ending the war, which he promised to do on his first day in office, was a major campaign promise by Trump. (More President Trump stories.)