Trump Says He Will Speak to Putin on Monday About 'Stopping the Bloodbath'

President Donald Trump has said he will be speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, amid attempts to procure a cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine.

“I will be speaking, by telephone, to President Vladimir Putin of Russia on Monday, at 10:00 a.m.,” Trump announced on his Truth Social account on Saturday, May 17. He said the subjects of the call will be “stopping the ‘bloodbath’ that is killing, on average, more than 5,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers a week, and trade.”

Trump said after this call, he will then speak separately with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

“Hopefully it will be a productive day, a cease-fire will take place, and this very violent war, a war that should have never happened, will end, God bless us all,” Trump concluded.

The announcement from Trump comes after officials from Russia and Ukraine met in Istanbul, Turkey, on Friday to hold direct talks about the pursuit of peace. Notably, neither Zelensky or Putin were present at the summit. After much speculation as to whether the two leaders would engage in a face-to-face meeting—something Zelensky advocated for, on the condition that a cease-fire would be agreed to prior—the two did not meet. Putin rejected Zelensky’s offer to an in-person sit-down in Turkey, and did not accompany the Russian delegation to Turkey. Meanwhile, Zelensky travelled to the Turkish capital of Ankara, where he met with the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Read More: How Putin Missed His Shot at Peace

In a sign of progress, the meeting of the Russian and Ukrainian delegates did result in an agreement to carry out the largest prisoner swap of the war, with each country committing to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war.

After the meeting, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who led the country’s delegation, told reporters that the two countries had also discussed the possibility of a cease-fire and a meeting between their respective Presidents.

Europe and the U.S. have previously proposed a 30-day cease-fire, which Ukraine has accepted. But Putin has refused to accept the proposal unless a list of his demands are met.

A call between Trump and Putin has been on the cards. The U.S. President told reporters on Air Force One on Thursday: “Nothing is going to happen until Putin and I get together.”

On Friday, the Kremlin echoed these comments, saying that communication between Trump and Putin is “extremely important” for settling the conflict.

“Contacts between President Putin and Trump are extremely important in the context of the Ukrainian settlement,” Russian press secretary Dmitry Peskov is quoted as telling Russian press. “Of course, we agree with this thesis. This significance is difficult to overestimate.”

Though Trump had promised a new era of Russia-Ukraine relations under his second term in the White House, his first 100 days saw things get off to a rocky start, with tensions peaking between Trump and Zelensky. The two shared a heated exchange in the Oval Office in February.

“You’re gambling with World War III, and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country that’s backed you far more than a lot of people say they should have,” Trump told Zelensky during the tense meeting.

The two appear to have since mended their relationship, and shared a brief, but significant, in-person sit-down—their first since the Oval Office clash—ahead of Pope Francis’ funeral at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City on April 26.

Of the sit-down, Zelensky said it was a “very symbolic meeting that has [the] potential to become historic.”

“We discussed a lot one-on-one. Hoping for results on everything we covered. Protecting lives of our people. Full and unconditional cease-fire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out,” he said.

After the meeting, Trump called out Putin via social media, expressing doubt that the Russian leader wants to end the war in Ukraine, and hinting at sanctions against Russia.

Still, Trump maintains that he can broker a peace deal between the two countries.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio landed in Istanbul earlier this week so that U.S. officials could host their own separate talks with Ukrainian and Turkish delegates. Rubio had a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Saturday, per the State Department.

“The comprehensive peace plan proposed by the United States outlines the best way forward,” the State Department said. “The Secretary emphasized President Trump’s call for an immediate cease-fire and an end to the violence.”