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Donald Trump Describes Vladimir Putin As A “Nice Gentleman” After Talks About Ending Ukraine “Bloodbath”
Donald Trump described Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “nice gentleman” following a two-hour call discussing ceasefire efforts in Ukraine.
The U.S. president made the remarks during a Kennedy Center board dinner at the White House on Monday evening.
After telling attendees to take a seat, Trump asked if he should tell them about his day first, namely his “little conversation with a nice gentleman named Vladimir Putin.”
- Donald Trump called Vladimir Putin a “nice gentleman” after a two-hour call on ceasefire efforts in Ukraine.
- Trump claimed 5,000 young soldiers die weekly in Ukraine, describing the conflict as an “absolute bloodbath.”
- Post-call, Trump said Russia and Ukraine would start ceasefire negotiations, with details known only to the two parties involved.
- Putin described the call with Trump as “frank, informative and constructive” and agreed on working toward a peace memorandum.
- Ukraine supports peace talks but demands clear terms and warns Russia against unrealistic conditions, or sanctions await.
Trump told attendees at a White House dinner that Putin is a ‘nice gentleman’
Image credits: The White House
“We had a good talk, and I think that progress is being made,” he told members of the board.
“5,000 young soldiers are being killed every single week on average,” he added.
“Can you believe 5,000 and it’s actually a number probably worse than that, in addition to other people that are being killed in towns, and we’re trying to stop it, it’s a bloodbath.
“It’s an absolute bloodbath.”
Trump again reiterated his claim that if he were president, the war in Ukraine would have never happened, nor the Hamas terror attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The remarks came after Trump held a call with Putin to urge him toward a ceasefire in Ukraine.
After the meeting, Trump said Russia and Ukraine would immediately start negotiations toward a ceasefire.
“The conditions for that will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be, because they know details of a negotiation that nobody else would be aware of,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“The tone and spirit of the conversation were excellent. If it wasn’t, I would say so now, rather than later. Russia wants to do large-scale TRADE with the United States when this catastrophic ‘bloodbath’ is over, and I agree.”
The Vatican had expressed interest in hosting the negotiations, he added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke with Trump twice on Monday and expressed his continued support for an immediate ceasefire, but said if Russia refuses to “stop killing,” they should be hit with harsh sanctions.
“There is no doubt that the war must end at the negotiating table,” Zelenskyy said Tuesday.
I spoke with @POTUS twice today. First, we had a one-on-one call before his conversation with the head of Russia, and later we spoke together with President Trump and European leaders President @EmmanuelMacron, Prime Minister @GiorgiaMeloni, Federal Chancellor @bundeskanzler,… pic.twitter.com/mm6a0Pro84
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 19, 2025
“The proposals on the table must be clear and realistic. Ukraine is ready for any negotiation format that delivers results.
“And if Russia continues to put forward unrealistic conditions and undermine progress, there must be tough consequences.”
Putin described his call with Trump as “frank, informative and constructive,” the BBC reported.
“We have agreed with the U.S. president that Russia will offer and is ready to work with Ukraine on a memorandum on a possible future peace agreement,” he said.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told RIA state news agency that there can be no fixed deadline for a ceasefire memorandum, Reuters reports.
Putin has refused to agree to an immediate 30-day ceasefire
Image credits: Getty Images
“There are no deadlines, and there cannot be any. It is clear that everyone wants to do this as quickly as possible, but, of course, the devil is in the details,” he said.
“The drafts will be formulated by both the Russian and Ukrainian sides, these draft documents will be exchanged, and then—complex contacts to develop a single text.”
Last week, on May 15, Russia and Ukraine held peace talks in Istanbul, Turkey, but they broke down within two hours and ended without significant progress.
While Ukraine has accepted a 30-day ceasefire proposal, Russia will not commit to it.
Ukraine also refused to concede to Russia’s demands, including territorial concessions and a halt to Western military support.
On Monday, Vice President JD Vance said that the U.S. is “more than open to walking away” from Ukraine-Russia negotiations amid growing frustration over stalled talks.
Overblown nonsense. If you are trying to get the leadership of another country to do something, you don't go out of your way to insult him.
That is only the case if you try to have them do it voluntarily and care about diplomacy, common sense, the future or the people. Trump doesn't care one pinch of owl dung about those things (not that anybody could have predicted that).
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Overblown nonsense. If you are trying to get the leadership of another country to do something, you don't go out of your way to insult him.
That is only the case if you try to have them do it voluntarily and care about diplomacy, common sense, the future or the people. Trump doesn't care one pinch of owl dung about those things (not that anybody could have predicted that).
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