What The Hell America!

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at U.S. President Donald Trump’s phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the United Kingdom and European Union resetting relations, and Israel lifting a blockade on aid entering Gaza.

‘Let the Process Begin!’

After speaking by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin for more than two hours on Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump failed to get the Russian leader to agree to an immediate cease-fire in his war against Ukraine.

Trump as well as Ukraine’s European allies have been pushing for both sides to commit to an immediate, unconditional pause in the fighting; however, while Kyiv has said it will do so if Moscow agrees, the Kremlin continues to stall. On Saturday, Trump expressed optimism that he could secure an agreement from his Monday calls with Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and European allies.

But the cease-fire he hoped for remains elusive. Instead, the U.S. president announced on social media after the call with Putin that “Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War.”

In a Truth Social post on Monday afternoon, Trump said he believed the call “went very well” and that “the tone and spirit of the conversation were excellent.” Yet he seemed to suggest that Washington intends to take a step back and leave it to others, especially the two warring sides, to work out a cease-fire agreement. “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 wrote, adding that the Vatican had offered to host talks. “Let the process begin!”

Putin, for his part, described Monday’s phone call as “frank and substantive,” according to Russian state media TASS. However, he made it clear that Moscow would not agree to a cease-fire without first receiving concessions. “Russia is ready and will continue to work with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum on a potential future peace treaty outlining a number of positions, such as, for instance, settlement principles, the timeframe for signing a potential peace agreement, and so on, including a potential cease-fire for a certain period in case relevant agreements are reached,” Putin told reporters after the call.

Whereas Ukraine wants a truce before peace talks are held, Russia refuses to come to the table unless certain conditions are met. Namely, these include barring Kyiv from joining NATO; limiting the size of Ukraine’s military; controlling five Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories, including Crimea; and preventing Western nations from assisting Kyiv’s war effort.

Zelensky spoke to Trump ahead of his phone call with the Russian leader and then again on a call with European leaders afterward. In a post on X later Monday, Zelensky wrote that he’d “reaffirmed to President Trump that Ukraine is ready for a full and unconditional ceasefire” and that if “the Russians are not ready to stop the killings, there must be stronger sanctions.” He said that he, Trump, and the European leaders had discussed possible next steps for talks, including “meetings between negotiators and an objective assessment of each side’s proposals.”

He added, “It is crucial for all of us that the United States does not distance itself from the talks and the pursuit of peace.”

Previous attempts at direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv have largely failed. Last week, Putin declined to attend an in-person meeting with Zelensky in Istanbul, forcing both sides to send lower-level delegations in their place. Aside from a prisoner exchange deal, no progress was made during Friday’s negotiations, and over the weekend, Russia exacerbated tensions by launching nearly 300 drones at Ukraine in one of its largest such strikes since the war began.

Trump had initially endorsed the Turkey-hosted talks, to the relief of Ukraine’s European allies, which have pushed the White House to demand an immediate, unconditional cease-fire. However, following Putin’s last-minute snub, Trump appeared to diminish the meeting’s importance, saying that nothing would be resolved until he spoke with Putin directly. On Saturday, Trump reiterated that point by announcing Monday’s phone call with Putin to discuss ending the bloodbath.

“We’re at a point where we’re hitting an impasse, and that’s why the president is talking to [Putin] on the phone,” U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance said on Monday. “I think honestly that President Putin, he doesn’t quite know how to get out of the war.”

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The World This Week

Tuesday, May 20: Hungary hosts the two-day Organization of Turkic States summit.

G-7 finance ministers and central bank governors begin three days of meetings in Canada.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hosts Czech President Petr Pavel in Brussels.

Wednesday, May 21: Trump hosts South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House.

Von der Leyen hosts Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof in Brussels.

Thursday, May 22: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz visits Lithuania.

Sunday, May 25: French President Emmanuel Macron begins a weeklong tour of Vietnam, Indonesia, and Singapore.

Venezuela holds legislative and regional elections.

Suriname holds a general election.

Monday, May 26: Malaysia hosts the two-day Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.

What We’re Following

Rebooting post-Brexit ties. The United Kingdom and European Union inked a landmark trade and defense deal on Monday, marking a new era for the continent nearly nine years after the country voted to leave the bloc. The agreement is designed to boost bilateral cooperation and counter steep U.S. tariffs on European steel, aluminum, and auto parts.

“At a time of global instability and when our continent faces the greatest threat it has for generations, we in Europe stick together,” von der Leyen said on Monday, with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer calling it a “reset” in U.K.-EU relations.

Britain said the deal will add around $12 billion to the U.K. economy, improve energy security, and place fewer restrictions on British food exporters and visitors. Travel will become easier for British citizens and their pets, as they will now be allowed to enter Europe via electronic gates. And Britain will be able to take part in a $167 billion EU program to rearm the continent.

However, Conservative opposition in Britain is mounting. Some lawmakers have denounced an aspect of the agreement that will allow European trawlers to fish in British waters for 12 years in exchange for reduced trade barriers and paperwork. This will be “the end of the fishing industry,” far-right Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage said.

Aid amid attacks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Monday that the country would lift its monthslong blockade on humanitarian aid entering Gaza, which began in March when Israel first resumed large-scale strikes on the territory. According to the prime minister’s office, a “basic amount of food” will be allowed to enter Gaza beginning in the “near future.”

Netanyahu’s decision appears to be in response to warnings by Israel’s allies, including the United States, that “images of mass starvation” coming out of Gaza would prevent foreign powers from providing Israel with military aid. Rights experts had previously warned Israel that failure to lift the blockade could result in famine. “We cannot reach a point of starvation, for practical and diplomatic reasons,” Netanyahu said.

At the same time, though, Israel’s cabinet approved plans on Monday to seize Gaza for an indefinite period of time as part of the country’s expanded military campaign to defeat Hamas; intensified Israeli airstrikes have killed hundreds of Palestinians in the past week. The new policy will order hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to evacuate in a move that is expected to worsen the territory’s already dire humanitarian crisis.

Weekend election results. Portugal began coalition-building talks on Monday after its general election on Sunday once again resulted in a minority government. Prime Minister Luís Montenegro’s center-right Democratic Alliance bloc secured 89 seats in the parliament, winning the largest share but falling far below the 116 seats needed for a simple majority. Instead, the far-right Chega party surprised voters with an unexpectedly strong showing. Chega won 58 seats in the parliament, the same number as Portugal’s Socialist Party; in 2019, Chega had just one seat.

Yet ultranationalist lawmakers did not dominate all of Europe’s elections this weekend. On Sunday, pro-EU Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan defeated hard-right candidate George Simion in the second round of Romania’s presidential election rerun. Although polls initially had Simion in the lead, Dan came out with 53.9 percent of the vote.

Meanwhile, liberal Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski secured a narrow victory on Sunday in the first round of Poland’s presidential election. With 31.4 percent of the vote, Trzaskowski’s first-place finish signals new hope for Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who seeks to solidify government control away from President Andrzej Duda and his opposition Law and Justice party. A runoff between Trzaskowski and Duda’s conservative candidate, Karol Nawrocki—who won 29.5 percent of the vote—is set for June 1.

Odds and Ends

Cue “Wasted Love,” Austria’s submission to and the winner of Saturday’s 69th Eurovision Song Contest. The dramatic pop opera, sung by classically trained singer JJ, stunned viewers with its high vocals and driving beat. But the contest was not without controversy. Despite Eurovision’s stated goal being to celebrate European culture and unity, Israel’s participation garnered fierce criticism from world leaders due to its war in Gaza. Israel’s submission—“New Day Will Rise” by Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack—came in second place.