US rejects fresh criticism as Trump reveals what Putin said during two-hour call
The US has rejected fresh criticism as Donald Trump revealed how his phone call with Vladimir Putin went in an attempt to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Follow updates.
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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted Donald Trump has offered no concessions to Russia, as he rejected fresh criticism over the administration’s Ukraine policy.
At a senate meeting on Tuesday, Senator Jeanne Shaheen – the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee –
accused the US President of giving Vladimir Putin more incentive to gain territory as he plays for time.
Due to Chinese support for Russia and “because President Trump has given away our leverage, Putin doesn’t feel pressured to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine,” she said.
“He hasn’t gotten a single concession,” Mr Rubio responded, speaking of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He said that Mr Trump, who spoke again to Mr Putin by telephone on Monday, does not want to impose fresh sanctions on Russia – a step taken on Tuesday by the European Union.
“If, in fact, it is clear that the Russians are not interested in a peace deal and they just want to keep fighting a war, it may very well come to that point,” Mr Rubio said.
Trump “believes that right now, if you start threatening sanctions, the Russians will stop talking, and there’s value in us being able to talk to them and drive them to get to the table,” he added.
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TRUMP REVEALS WHAT PUTIN SAID DURING TWO-HOUR CALL
It comes as Donald Trump said Russia and Ukraine will “immediately” start peace talks after he spoke with Vladimir Putin, despite the Russian leader rebuffing the US President’s call for an unconditional truce.
Mr Trump framed the two-hour conversation as a breakthrough as he seeks an elusive deal to end the conflict that he promised on the campaign trail to solve within 24 hours.
But Mr Putin struck a more reserved tone, saying he was ready to work with Kyiv on a memorandum towards ending the war Moscow launched in February 2022 but insisting on compromises on both sides.
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, who has patched up relations with the US President after a blazing row in the Oval Office, urged Mr Trump in a separate call not to make any decisions “without us.”
Mr Trump has pinned his hopes on ending the conflict on a personal bond with Putin, even as he shows growing frustration with the Kremlin leader’s refusal to do a deal.
“I believe it went very well,” Mr Trump said on his Truth Social network after his Putin call.
“Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War.”
But Mr Trump sounded less confident when he mentioned Mr Putin later at a White House event.
“I think some progress has been made,” he said in the Rose Garden during a bill signing. “Hopefully we did something... we’re trying to get that whole thing wrapped up.”
POPE MEETS VANCE AHEAD OF CEASEFIRE PUSH
Pope Leo XIV received US Vice President JD Vance and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Vatican, ahead of a US-led push to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The Vatican released photographs of Mr Vance and Mr Rubio smiling as they met with the Chicago-born pontiff, who was elected as head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics on May 8 – the first pope from the United States.
The pair were among the 200,000 dignitaries, royals and faithful who had gathered to mark the official start of Leo’s papacy at an inauguration mass in St Peter’s Square.
Pope Leo, 69, has made peace the key word of his papacy so far and was expected to talk to Mr Vance and Mr Rubio about the US administration’s role in pushing for an end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict in particular.
VP Vance handed Leo an invitation from US President Donald Trump to visit the White House, his spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters in Washington, adding that Mr Trump hoped the visit would happen as soon as possible.
Mr Vance also met Monday with the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States, Paul Richard Gallagher, for “cordial talks” during which they expressed “satisfaction at the good bilateral relations”, the Vatican said.
There was also “an exchange of views on some current international issues, calling for respect for humanitarian law and international law in areas of conflict and for a negotiated solution between the parties involved”, it said.
There was a flurry of diplomatic meetings on the sidelines of Pope Leo’s inauguration, with world dignitaries discussing both Israel’s offensive in Gaza and the Ukraine conflict.
Mr Zelensky, who was present at the inauguration mass, met with Pope Leo for his first private audience.
He also sat down with Mr Vance and Mr Rubio to discuss “their shared goal of ending the bloodshed in Ukraine,” according to the vice president’s office.
Pope Leo offered last week to mediate between leaders of countries at war, saying that he himself “will make every effort so that this peace may prevail”.
And the pope’s number two, Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, said Leo “may offer the Vatican for a direct meeting between the two parties”, according to media reports.
Mr Vance’s audience with Leo lasted 45 minutes, the VP’s spokesperson said.
Before becoming pope, Leo reposted on his personal X account criticism of US President Donald Trump’s administration over its approach to migration and also pilloried Mr Vance.
But Mr Vance insisted that the United States was “very proud of him”, adding that “our prayers go with him as he starts this very important work”.
Mr Vance converted to Catholicism in 2019 and Mr Rubio is also a Catholic.
ALBO MAKES VOW TO UKRAINE
Australia’s prime minister Anthony Albanese has taken to social media platform X, formerly Twitter, to announce that “Australia stands with Ukraine, now and always.”
Mr Albanese shared a photo of him shaking hands with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky.
Mr Zelensky thanked Mr Albanese for the federal government’s support of his nation and also for sending M1A1 Abrams tanks to the war-torn country as it continues to fight against Russia.
“Together we can really move the situation closer to peace with pressure on Russia and we are very thankful for sanctions,” he said during the meeting on Sunday afternoon (Monday AEST).
ÐвÑÑ‚Ñ€Ð°Ð»Ñ–Ñ Ð¿Ñ–Ð´Ñ‚Ñ€Ð¸Ð¼ÑƒÑ” Україну – зараз Ñ– завжди.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) May 18, 2025
Слава Україні!
__
Australia stands with Ukraine, now and always.
Slava Ukraini!@ZelenskyyUa
🇦🇺🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/krIsh0418k
The meeting in Rome, where Mr Zelensky thanked the Vatican for “for its willingness to become a platform for direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia,” comes as Russia launched a record number of drones at the country overnight, targeting various regions, including that of the capital Kyiv, where a woman was killed. Another man was killed in the southeastern Kherson region.
The attacks came only two days after the first direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in more than three years, which failed to produce a truce.
Mr Putin said in an interview released on Sunday that his focus was on eradicating what he called the root causes of the Ukraine conflict and guaranteeing Russia’s security.
The Ukrainian air force said that Russia had launched “273 Shahed attack drones and various types of imitator drones”, of which 88 were destroyed and 128 more went astray “without negative consequences”.
KREMLIN WANTS POW EXCHANGE BEFORE TALKS
It comes as the Kremlin on Saturday said that Ukraine and Russia must first complete an agreed prisoner-of-war exchange and come up with ceasefire conditions, before planning any new talks.
‘“For now, we need to do what the delegations agreed on yesterday” in Turkey — the first direct talks in over three years — the Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists following a question on whether there were plans for a second round of talks.
‘“This, of course, means first and foremost to complete a 1,000 for 1,000 (POW) swap.”
Part of this story originally appeared in The New York Post.
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