Agencies WASHINGTON

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he will hold telephone conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday, May 19, in an effort to halt the ongoing "bloodbath" in Ukraine.

In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, President Trump stated his call with President Putin, scheduled for 10:00 a.m., will focus on ending the conflict, which he claimed is killing over 5,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers weekly, and trade. He added he would then speak with President Zelenskyy and subsequently with President Zelenskyy and various NATO members.

"Hopefully it will be a productive day, a ceasefire will take place, and this very violent war, a war that should have never happened, will end. God bless us all!" Trump wrote. The announcement comes a day after Moscow and Kyiv held their first direct peace talks in years in Istanbul, which, however, failed to yield a ceasefire. President Trump has consistently advocated for brokering peace in the region, frequently highlighting the severe casualties of the prolonged conflict.

Rubio calls Lavrov US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday called his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to discuss the outcome of Friday's direct negotiations between delegations of Kiev and Moscow in Istanbul.

In the first ever direct talks in three years, Russian and Ukrainian delegation at their meeting lasting less than two hours agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of war from each side and draft their respective proposals for a ceasefire to end the fighting which has entered into its fourth year.  At Friday's talks, Ukraine demanded a direct meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Vladimir Putin.

"Marco Rubio welcomed the agreements reached on the exchange of prisoners of war and the intention of each side to prepare its own proposals outlining the conditions necessary for a ceasefire.  "He reaffirmed Washington's readiness to continue supporting efforts towards a negotiated settlement," a Russian Foreign Ministry statement posted on its web portal said.