Trump expresses willingness to join Ukraine-Russia peace summit

Amid growing global pressure to bring an end to the three-year-old Ukraine-Russia conflict, former US President Donald Trump has expressed his readiness to attend peace talks hosted in Turkey, but only if both President Vladimir Putin of Russia and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine are present.

The announcement follows a second round of peace talks held in Istanbul on 2 June 2025, where both countries failed to reach an agreement on a comprehensive ceasefire but managed to strike a significant deal on prisoner exchange.

The White House, through spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, confirmed that Trump is open to participating in a future summit provided that both Putin and Zelenskyy agree to attend. She stated that he wants both leaders and both sides to come to the table together, underscoring Trump’s desire to see a swift end to the war.

Erdogan proposes high-level summit in Turkey

The proposal for a high-level three-way summit came from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who suggested that Turkey could host the next round of talks either in Istanbul or Ankara later this month. Turkey has positioned itself as a key mediator in the ongoing conflict, having already hosted the first and second rounds of in-person talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations.

Putin has so far declined the invitation to participate in a leader-level summit. In contrast, Zelenskyy has expressed willingness, stating that important decisions regarding the future of Ukraine must be made directly between heads of state.

Despite Trump’s openness to engaging in talks, no US representative participated in the recent Istanbul meeting, according to a State Department spokesperson.

Ukraine seeks more active US involvement

President Zelenskyy called on the United States to take stronger action. He said Ukraine is very much awaiting strong steps from the United States and urged Trump to increase sanctions on Russia to force a full ceasefire.

During the talks, Ukrainian representatives confirmed that Russia had rejected their proposal for an unconditional ceasefire, instead offering a partial truce of two to three days in specific areas to retrieve fallen soldiers.

Russia's tough conditions for full ceasefire

According to Russian state media, the Kremlin’s conditions for a full ceasefire include:

• A complete withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from four disputed regions — Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson

• A guarantee that Ukraine will not join NATO

• A limitation on Ukraine’s military capabilities and a halt to Western military support

Moscow’s lead negotiator Vladimir Medinsky confirmed that Russia proposed a limited ceasefire to allow for the collection of bodies and the return of the wounded.

Zelenskyy rejected this approach and responded that the whole point of a ceasefire is to stop people from becoming dead in the first place.

Major prisoner swap and humanitarian exchange

Despite the lack of progress on a full ceasefire, a major humanitarian agreement was reached. Ukraine and Russia agreed to:

• Swap at least 1,000 prisoners each, focusing on severely wounded soldiers and fighters under the age of 25

• Return the bodies of 6,000 fallen soldiers

The agreement has been hailed as a constructive humanitarian gesture even as core military and political disputes remain unresolved.

Call for next talks and potential summit by June-end

Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, who led Ukraine’s delegation, called for a third round of talks before the end of June and supported discussions around a Putin-Zelenskyy summit.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan described the atmosphere of the meeting in Istanbul — held at a luxury hotel along the Bosphorus — as constructive. He confirmed that the next round of negotiations could focus on preparing for a leader-level summit.

Rising humanitarian toll

The ongoing conflict continues to extract a heavy toll. Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, tens of thousands have died, millions have been displaced, and entire regions in eastern and southern Ukraine have been devastated.

In Dobropillya, a frontline town in eastern Ukraine, a 53-year-old man named Volodymyr shared his despair. He said they thought everything would stop, but now there is nothing to wait for. They have no home, nothing, and were almost killed by drones.

Ukrainian drone attack on Russian bombers

In a separate but significant development, Ukraine claimed to have launched a drone strike inside Russian territory on Sunday, targeting airbases and damaging around 40 strategic bombers — aircraft collectively valued at 7 billion dollars. This has been described as a major special operation, showcasing Ukraine’s continued resistance and innovation on the battlefield.

The road ahead

With peace still elusive, the focus now shifts to whether the proposed summit involving Trump, Putin, and Zelenskyy will materialise. Turkey’s mediation efforts continue to be central, and international pressure is mounting for a sustainable end to the war.

For now, the tentative humanitarian gains in Istanbul are a small but hopeful step in a much larger diplomatic battle — one that may soon involve leaders of the world’s most powerful nations sitting at the same table

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