By Currents News
The Holy Father has been calling for an end to the Russia-Ukraine war… and the Vatican had high hopes for the peace talks in Turkey, but little came out of the first direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in more than three years.
Their negotiating teams met in Istanbul– without the presidents of either country– and President Donald Trump said there would be no progress on peace talks until he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
This– after President Trump was pictured on the phone to four of his key European allies– France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Poland…
The allies said they were convinced they had the support of Trump– not only for a demand for a ceasefire on Monday that was unconditional and lasted 30 days– but also the sanctions that would follow if Russia didn’t adhere to that.
Instead– Trump, Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky all skipped the Istanbul meeting…
Some believe Putin’s absence sends a message that the Kremlin is unafraid of sanctions– and that the Russian leader had correctly gambled that Trump would not be that angry if some kind of meeting continued in Istanbul but Putin didn’t attend personally or accept a ceasefire. It seems Putin isn’t interested in a swift settlement.
A senior Ukrainian official says at Friday’s meeting– the Russian side introduced new, unacceptable demands for a ceasefire– to withdraw Ukrainian forces from parts of its own territory.
What the two sides did agree to– was to exchange one-thousand prisoners of war each– which would be the biggest swap since the war began.
Meanwhile– President Trump says he wants to meet with Putin to discuss the war as soon as possible.
“I think it’s time for us to just do it. I said, you know, they all said Putin was going and Zelensky was going. And I said, if I don’t go, I guarantee Putin is not going, and he didn’t go. I understand that โ but we’re going to get it โ we’re going to get it done. We’re going to get it done. 5,000 young people are being killed every single week on average, and we’re going to get it done,” President Donald Trump said.