What happened
President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke for two hours Monday in a phone call Trump characterized as "excellent" and Putin described as "very informative and very frank." Trump said "some progress has been made" toward ending Russia's Ukraine war, but he backed off an earlier demand that Putin agree to an immediate ceasefire, a condition accepted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Who said what
"Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the war," Trump said on social media after the call. "The conditions for that will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be." Putin, who rejected an invitation to meet with Zelenskyy in Turkey last week, said Russia was "ready to work" with Kyiv "on a memorandum on a possible future peace agreement."
Trump is "banking on the idea that his force of personality and personal history with Putin will be enough to break any impasse over a pause in the fighting," The Associated Press said. But the "lack of any meaningful breakthrough" in Monday's call, The New York Times said, shows that Trump's "belief in his personal charisma and negotiating acumen has so far run up against deep divisions and complex political motivations guiding Russia and Ukraine."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What next?
There are "big egos involved," Trump told reporters Monday. "I think something's going to happen and, if it doesn't I'd just back away and they have to keep going."
-
September 20 editorial cartoonsCartoons Saturday's political cartoons include Senate confirmations, and mocking the powerful
-
21 Donald Trump political cartoonsCartoons The nation's cartoonists take on Donald Trump's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, Jimmy Kimmel, war and peace
-
Passing sentence in Brazil: the jailing of Jair BolsonaroIn the Spotlight In convicting Brazil’s former president, its Supreme Court has sent a powerful message about democratic accountability – but the victory may be only a temporary
-
Charlie Kirk, Jimmy Kimmel and free speechTalking Point TV host’s cancellation and Trump administration’s threats to media have led to accusations of Maga hypocrisy
-
Denmark’s record-setting arms purchase raises eyebrows and anxietyIN THE SPOTLIGHT By eschewing American-made munitions for their European counterparts, the Danish government is bracing for Russian antagonism and sending a message to the West
-
What led to Poland invoking NATO’s Article 4 and where could it lead?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION After a Russian drone blitz, Warsaw’s rare move to invoke the important NATO statute has potentially moved Europe closer to continent-wide warfare
-
Russia slams Kyiv, hits government buildingSpeed Read This was Moscow's largest aerial assault since launching its full-scale invasion in 2022
-
'Axis of upheaval': will China summit cement new world order?Today's Big Question Xi calls on anti-US alliance to cooperate in new China-led global system – but fault lines remain
-
China's Xi hosts Modi, Putin, Kim in challenge to USSpeed Read Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Asian leaders at an SCO summit
-
What is Tony Blair's plan for Gaza?Today's Big Question Former PM has reportedly been putting together a post-war strategy 'for the past several months'
-
Russian strike on Kyiv kills 23, hits EU officesSpeed Read The strike was the second-largest since Russia invaded in 2022
