In Russia's readout of the call, they once again rejected Trump's desire for an unconditional ceasefire, saying one is only possible "once appropriate agreements are reached," ie, Ukraine's surrender.

He also emphasized a desire for "largescale trade" between the US and Russia as a reward for pausing the war.

He announced the "immediate" start of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to arrange a ceasefire on their own, seemingly unaware of the pointless negotiations which took place days prior in Turkiye, which he and Putin refused to attend.

So to recount, the US knew talks were pointless, pressed for them anyway, and now sides are further apart than ever from any ceasefire with no consequences in sight.

US Sec Rubio admitted that progress can't be made without Putin attending, and without Trump and Putin meeting directly. Meanwhile, Trump told reporters he was not disappointed Putin bailed, because "why should he go if I don't go?" adding "Nothing's going to happen until Putin and I get together"

The 'negotiations' were initially set to be cancelled after Putin refused to show up, but went on at the behest of the US and EU. Russia opposed any US presence in the talks.

The delegation head Medinsky said during the meeting “Maybe some of those sitting here at this table will lose more of their loved ones. Russia is prepared to fight forever.”

They are also now threatening to "annex" 2-3 more provinces they have no presence in. Its presumed all of their other maximalist positions from 2022 remain: Ukraine disarming and ultimately surrendering the entire country.

The russian delegation, long story short, demanded that Ukraine withdraw from all of Donetsk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson, ceding the capital cities and all else Russia never controlled (or in the case of Kherson, retreated from).

Needless to say, Russia also rejected the European deadline for a ceasefire today which European leaders assured would bring further sanctions to pressure Russia. So far we await the consequences.

Russia's deputy speaker Kosachev instead gave the excuse that "Zelensky doesn’t need a meeting with the Russian president — not at all. In fact, he should be afraid of such a meeting," while another top official said Zelensky was never invited.

Zelensky issued a statement on Saturday saying, "I hope that this time, Putin won’t look for excuses for why he ‘can’t’ come"