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US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has said that Russia and Ukraine would begin negotiations towards a ceasefire “immediately,” after he held a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin as part of efforts to end the war.
It came after the White House said Trump has grown “frustrated” with the conflict and planned a separate call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the hope of making progress toward a ceasefire.
“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, which lasted for over two hours.
He said that the “tone and spirit of the conversation were excellent”, and added that Russia wants to do largescale trade with the US “when this catastrophic bloodbath is over, and I agree”.
The Vatican – where Pope Leo XIV was recently elected as the first American pontiff – would be “very interested” in hosting the Russia-Ukraine talks, Trump added.
Speaking to Russian media after the call, Putin described it as “very informative and very open and overall, in my opinion, very useful”.
Putin said he had agreed that Moscow will propose a “memorandum” worked on with Ukraine outlining positions for a “possible” future peace deal “defining a range of positions”.
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”.
Ukraine and its Western allies have pressured Russia to agree to a ceasefire, which Moscow has so far resisted.
The Russian president also said that talks between Moscow and Kyiv in Istanbul last week put the world on the “right path” towards ending the conflict, which began with Russia’s full-scale 2022 offensive.
Delegations from Russia and Ukraine held direct negotiations in Turkey’s capital for the first time in almost three years. While both sides agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners each and trade ideas on a possible ceasefire, the talks ended without a commitment.
Trump reportedly spoke to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the call with Putin.
On social media, Trump said he had “informed” Zelenskyy, European Commission President Ursula von Der Leyen and the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Finland of the resumption of peace talks in a call immediately after his conversation with Putin.
With Ukraine saying Russia launched a “record” drone attack at the weekend, the White House had earlier warned that Trump was “weary and frustrated” with the slow-moving peace efforts.
Vice President JD Vance reiterated that Trump was losing patience.
“There’s a bit of an impasse here,” Vance told reporters as he left Rome, where he met both the pope and Zelenskyy. “If Russia is not willing to do that, then we’re eventually just going have to say, this is not our war.”
Trump has directed much of his frustration towards Ukraine – including during a blazing Oval Office row with Zelensky in February.
But while abstaining from extensively criticizing Putin, he has also signaled concerns that the Russian president may be stringing him along.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said fresh sanctions were still an option if Russia fails to reach a deal.
Trump still hoped to meet Putin, she added, after the US president said that face-to-face talks were the only way to end the conflict.
Trump had held out the possibility of joining Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Istanbul last week if there was a chance of meeting Putin, but the Russian leader was a no-show.
Zelenskyy refreshed his push for a “full and unconditional” ceasefire ahead of the call.
Last week’s Istanbul talks were the first direct negotiations between the sides for three years, with US officials also attending. But the meetings ended without a commitment to a ceasefire.
After the negotiations, Trump announced that he would speak by phone with Putin in a bid to end the “BLOODBATH” in Ukraine, which has destroyed large swaths of the country and displaced millions of people.
Ukraine’s allies have since accused Putin of ignoring calls for a truce and pushed for fresh sanctions against Russia.
On the ground, the Russian army continued its attacks.
Moscow claimed its forces had captured two villages in Ukraine’s eastern Sumy and Donetsk regions. Russia also fired 112 drones on Ukraine overnight, 76 of which were repelled, the Ukrainian air force said.
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