Trump Says Possible Withdrawal From Ukraine Talks

• 20.05.2025, 9:35

The U.S. president said he "has a red line".

US President Donald Trump asked Putin during a phone call when the "bloodshed" in Ukraine would end, and warned that he might walk away from a settlement of the conflict if there was no "substantial progress" as a result of the talks, The Moscow Times writes.

"I told him: you have to move on. And I also said: if I think you can't do it, I will step back [from the settlement process], because well what can be done," Trump said while speaking to reporters at the White House.

The White House chief said he had a "red line" after which he would decide to abandon the talks, but did not name it. In that case, he said, the US would cede its role in the settlement to Europe. Trump emphasized that the war in Ukraine should initially have remained Europe's problem, and Washington should not have interfered. At the same time, Trump expressed confidence that significant changes would follow after his conversation with Putin. "Big egos are involved, but I think something will happen," the US president said. He also said he would not impose sanctions on Russia because there was a chance of progress on ending the war. "If you do that (impose sanctions against the Russian Federation. - TMT), you can also make things much worse. But there may come a time when that will happen," Trump noted.

The US president held a third phone conversation with Putin on the evening of May 19. Following it, Trump said that Russia and Ukraine would "immediately" begin negotiations, adding that the terms for this should be agreed upon by the parties themselves, as "they know details" that no one else knows. Putin, for his part, said he was ready to work with Ukraine on a memorandum on a future peace treaty that would specify the principles of a settlement, the timeframe for a peace agreement, and the terms of a ceasefire.