
US president Donald Trump will speak to Vladimir Putin on Monday to stop the “bloodbath” war in Ukraine, saying the conflict is killing thousands of soldiers a week, “AND TRADE.” Trump wrote on social media he would follow-up that chat with another with Volodymyr Zelenskyy so the war “WILL END,” Oliver Millman reports.
The leaders of Germany and Italy said Europe is a long way away from deploying any troops in Ukraine as all efforts remained focused on an unconditional ceasefire deal from Russia. Friedrich Merz, Germany’s chancellor, said there was “no reason” to talk about troops, adding “we are far from that.”
Zelenskyy called for tougher sanctions on Moscow after a Russian strike on a minibus killed 9 people. Ukraine said the vehicle was evacuating civilians from a town in the Sumy region that has recently come under repeated Russian attacks. “All the deceased were civilians,” Zelenskyy wrote on X. “And the Russians could not have failed to understand what kind of vehicle they were targeting. This was a deliberate killing of civilians.”
The Ukrainian president has been meeting with a slate of leaders in Rome as he appeals for support in the ongoing talks. On X, Zelenskyy said he’s focused on a ceasefire, humanitarian commitments from allies and efforts to rebuild Ukraine once the conflict ends.