Trump’s 2-hour call with Putin: US President says Russia and Ukraine ceasefire talks will begin ‘immediately’

US President Donald Trump says Russia and Ukraine will begin negotiations towards a ceasefire “immediately”, after he held a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the grinding conflict. Photos / Getty Images

• US President Donald Trump announced Russia and Ukraine will start ceasefire negotiations after his call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
• Putin said Moscow will propose a memorandum with Ukraine outlining positions for a possible peace deal.
• Putin thanked Trump for enabling the first direct talks between Kyiv and Moscow in over three years.

US President Donald Trump says Russia and Ukraine will begin negotiations towards a ceasefire “immediately”, after he held a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the grinding conflict.

“Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform after the call, adding that the “tone and spirit of the conversation were excellent”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he had agreed with Trump that Moscow will propose a “memorandum” worked on with Ukraine outlining positions for a “possible” future peace deal - but fell short of giving Trump the unconditional 30-day ceasefire he sought.

Putin and Trump spoke by phone in a call the US president said lasted more than two hours.

The Russian leader said Istanbul talks last week between Moscow and Kyiv put the world on the “right path” towards ending the conflict, which began with Moscow’s full-scale 2022 offensive.

“Russia will propose and will be ready to work with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum on a possible future peace agreement defining a range of positions,” Putin told Russian media after his call with Trump.

A trilateral US-Ukraine-Turkey meeting was held in Turkey last week. Photo / Getty Images

He said the document could outline “the principles of settlement, the timing of a possible peace agreement and so on – including a possible ceasefire for a certain period of time if appropriate agreements are reached”.

Putin gave no more details on the “memorandum”.

But the Kremlin leader appeared to give one of the most concrete signs yet of being ready to discuss an end to Moscow’s invasion of its neighbor, which has been allied with the United States and European Union.

“It was very informative and very open and overall, in my opinion, very useful,” Putin told Russian media after the call.

Ukraine and its Western allies have pressured Russia to agree to a ceasefire, which Moscow has so far resisted.

Putin thanked Trump for enabling the first direct talks between Kyiv and Moscow in more than three years.

“Contact between participants of the meeting and negotiations in Istanbul – this contact was restarted and it gives us the basis to think that on the whole we are on the right path,” Putin said.

He said both Moscow and Kyiv should show “maximum” effort to find “compromises that would suit all sides”.

Putin described his call with Trump as “very useful”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had no details about a “memorandum” on Putin’s peace roadmap but was willing to look at Moscow’s proposals.

“Once we have received the memorandum or proposals from the Russians, we will be able to formulate our vision accordingly, as we see it,” Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv, adding that he had no further details on the potential document.

– Agence France-Presseesse