The long-awaited phone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart Donald Trump is expected to begin today at 4 p.m. Bulgarian time, which will be the third since the beginning of the year.
The conversation was announced by the US president himself. On his social network Truth Social, he wrote that he plans to talk with Putin at 10:00 a.m. on the East Coast, and the Russian president's press secretary Dmitry Peskov confirmed that such a conversation is indeed being prepared.
According to Trump, the topics of conversation should be the settlement of peace in Ukraine and trade. The US President's special representative Steve Witkoff expressed hope that the conversation will help in "clearing the rubble" on the path to achieving peace in Ukraine.
After his phone calls with Putin, Trump plans to speak with Volodymyr Zelensky and the leaders of NATO countries.
However, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that they intended to speak with the American leader before his conversation with the Russian president, and the British president did indeed speak with Trump that night.
The last conversation between the leaders of Russia and the United States - the second for 2025 - took place on March 18 and was dedicated to the issues of the Ukrainian and Middle East settlement, as well as bilateral relations. Then Putin supported Trump's idea of a ceasefire in Ukraine with some reservations and immediately gave the order to stop strikes on energy facilities, "even to shoot down shells already fired by the Russian armed forces".
On February 12, Putin and Trump discussed the Ukrainian issue by phone, as well as the accumulated problems in relations between the two countries. The presidents then agreed to continue contacts, including organizing personal meetings - the American leader has consistently expressed his intention to organize such a summit "as soon as possible".
This week will play a decisive role in the negotiations to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Rome, quoted by the EC press service.
“Now, of course, it is important to move the situation forward and I believe that this week will be decisive in this regard“, the EC said in a statement.