On May 17, 2025, US President Donald Trump announced an upcoming telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which will take place on Monday, May 19, at 10:00 Washington time (17:00 Moscow time). He wrote about this on his social network Truth Social, specifying that the key topics will be ending the "bloodshed" in Ukraine, which, according to him, takes more than 5000 lives of soldiers every week, as well as bilateral trade issues. After the conversation with Putin, Trump plans to call Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and then hold discussions with Zelensky and NATO representatives.

The announcement of the conversation came amid talks in Istanbul on May 16, where Russian and Ukrainian delegations held direct consultations for the first time since March 2022. As Reuters reports, Russia, represented by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, put forward demands for Ukraine's neutral status and an end to Western arms supplies, which Kyiv considered unacceptable. Nevertheless, the parties agreed on the largest prisoner exchange in the "1000 for 1000" format, scheduled for May 21 on the Belarusian-Ukrainian border.

This will be the third phone call between Trump and Putin since Trump's inauguration in January 2025. The first, on February 12, lasted XNUMX minutes and covered Ukraine, the Middle East and trade.