Coalition of the willing leaders speak with Trump ahead of Putin call

He wrote about this on his page on social media platform X.

“I spoke tonight (May 18 – ed.) with U.S. President Donald Trump, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni after our talks in Kyiv and Tirana,” Macron said.

According to him, during the conversation with Trump, Putin “must show he wants peace” by agreeing to a 30-day ceasefire.

“Tomorrow (May 19 – ed.), President Putin must show he wants peace by accepting the 30-day unconditional ceasefire proposed by President Trump and backed by Ukraine and Europe,” he added.

On Sunday, May 18, Reuters reported that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he, along with leaders of the UK, France, and Poland, intends to speak with U.S. President Donald Trump ahead of his planned Monday phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

According to Merz, this issue was discussed during his meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Vatican, where both attended the inaugural mass of Pope Leo XIV.

He also noted that he had a lengthy conversation at the Vatican with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“I spoke with Marco Rubio, including about the call tomorrow. We agreed that we will speak again with the four state leaders and the U.S. president in preparation of this conversation (with Putin),” said the German chancellor.

• Earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that on Monday, May 19, he would have a phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, after which he would call Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.