US President Donald Trump held a phone conversation today with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, regarding peace in Ukraine.
According to foreign media, the call came after Washington said there was a deadlock over ending Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II and that the United States may have to withdraw if the impasse is not resolved.
President Putin sent tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine in February 2022, sparking the most serious confrontation between Russia and the West since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.
Trump, who says he wants to be remembered as a peacemaker, has repeatedly called for an end to the Ukraine "bloodbath," which his administration describes as a proxy war between the United States and Russia.
Under pressure from Trump, delegates from the warring countries met last week in Istanbul for the first time since 2022, after Putin proposed direct talks, and the Europeans and Ukraine demanded an immediate ceasefire.
A White House official said the call was underway. Putin was speaking from the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi, while Trump was in Washington.
Shortly before the call, US Vice President JD Vance told reporters that Washington acknowledged there was an impasse in ending the war and that if Moscow was not willing to engage, then eventually the United States would have to say 'it was not their war'.
"We understand there's a little bit of a stalemate here. And I think the president will say to President Putin: 'Listen, are you serious? Are you honest about this?'" Vance said as he prepared to leave Italy.
"I honestly think President Putin, he doesn't really know how to get out of a war," Vance said, adding that he had just spoken to Trump, writes A2 CNN.
He said that "it takes two to tango. I know the President is willing to do that, but if Russia is not willing to do that, then we will ultimately say that this is not our war."
"We'll try to finish it, but if we can't finish it, eventually we'll say, 'You know what? It was worth trying, but we're not going to do it anymore,'" he concluded. (A2 Televizion)
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