Milan, 22 May (LaPresse) – The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports that talks between Ukraine and Russia are expected to begin in mid-June. The newspaper, citing well-informed sources, writes that in a phone call on Sunday with several European leaders, including Emmanuel Macron, Friedrich Merz, Giorgia Meloni and Keir Starmer, the US president indicated that he would send his Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Keith Kellogg to talks between Russia and Ukraine in the Vatican. But in a subsequent phone call the following day, Monday, Trump appeared unwilling to commit to the US's role, the newspaper said, citing sources. Some of the Europeans present at Monday's phone call insisted that the outcome of any talks in the Vatican must be an unconditional ceasefire, but Trump again objected, saying he did not like the term ‘unconditional’ and claimed he had never used that term. Although, the WSJ points out, he did use it when he called for a 30-day ceasefire in a post published on 8 May on his Truth Social platform. The Europeans eventually agreed to drop their insistence on the adjective, the newspaper writes.
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