Trump to speak with Putin, Zelensky on Monday

Washington: US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he will speak separately with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday to push for a ceasefire deal between the two countries.

"I will be speaking, by telephone, to President Vladimir Putin of Russia on Monday, at 10:00 a.m.," Trump said in a post on Truth Social, adding that the subjects of the call will be stopping the "bloodbath" that is killing, on average, more than 5,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers a week, and trade.

Trump said he will "then be speaking to President Zelensky of Ukraine and then, with President Zelensky, various members of NATO."

"Hopefully it will be a productive day" and "a ceasefire will take place," he said.

Concluding their meeting in Türkiye's Istanbul on Friday, delegations of Russia and Ukraine agreed to hold a new round of negotiations and have a large-scale prisoner exchange. As a key outcome of the two-hour talks, the two sides agreed to a prisoner exchange involving 1,000 people from each side.