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Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday he held a two-hour phone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump, during which they discussed a potential cease-fire in Ukraine and the prospects for resolving the ongoing conflict.
Speaking at a press briefing in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, Putin described the exchange as “frank and substantive,” and said Trump acknowledged Russia’s commitment to a peaceful resolution of the crisis.
Putin thanked Trump for supporting the resumption of direct negotiations in Istanbul between Moscow and Kyiv, emphasizing that Trump outlined his position on a cease-fire between the two sides.
“The U.S. president expressed his position on the cease-fire and, for his part, also noted that Russia supports a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis. We just need to determine the most effective ways to move toward peace,” Putin said.
A truce with Ukraine, he added, is possible once both sides reach relevant agreements and identify mutually acceptable compromises.
“We have agreed with the U.S. president that Russia will propose and is ready to work with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum on a possible future peace treaty, defining a number of positions such as the principles of settlement, the timing of a possible peace agreement, including a possible cease-fire for a certain time if certain agreements are reached,” Putin said.
He also noted that contact between participants in the Istanbul negotiations has resumed, which “gives reason to believe that we are generally moving in the right direction.”
"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 told Russian media, adding that both Moscow and Kyiv should show "maximum" effort to find "compromises that would suit all sides".
Putin said additional details on the call with Trump would be provided by either Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov or Yury Ushakov, the presidential aide on foreign affairs.
Meanwhile, Trump said Monday that a highly anticipated phone call with Putin "went very well," and that Moscow and Kyiv are set to "immediately" begin negotiations over a ceasefire in Ukraine.
Trump described the two-hour conversation as “excellent,” and said Russia is looking to engage in "largescale" trade with the United States once the war ends. He characterized the potential for commercial ties between Washington and Moscow as “unlimited,” adding that Ukraine "can be a great beneficiary on Trade, in the process of rebuilding its Country."
“Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War,” Trump wrote in a social media post. “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.”
He also noted that the Vatican, “as represented by the Pope,” has expressed interest in hosting the negotiations. “Let the process begin!” Trump added.
Following the call with Putin, Trump said he briefed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, and other European leaders on the conversation's details.
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