United States President Donald Trump has said, after a more than two-hour call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, that Moscow and Kyiv “will immediately start negotiations” toward a ceasefire and an end to the war, now in its fourth bloody year.
Putin said that efforts to end the conflict seemed “on the right track” and that Moscow was ready to work with Ukraine on a memorandum about a future peace accord.
Putin thanked Trump for supporting the resumption of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine, and said that Trump noted Russia’s support for peace, though the key question was how to move towards peace.
“We have agreed with the president of the United States that Russia will propose and is ready to work with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum on a possible future peace accord, defining a number of positions, such as, for example, the principles of settlement, the timing of a possible peace agreement,” Putin told reporters near the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
If appropriate agreements are reached, then there could be a ceasefire, Putin said, adding that direct talks between Russia and Ukraine “gives reason to believe that we are generally on the right track”.
“I would like to note that, on the whole, Russia’s position is clear. The main thing for us is to eliminate the root causes of this crisis,” Putin said. “We just need to determine the most effective ways to move towards peace.”
For his part, Trump said the call went very well. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that the Vatican, “as represented by the Pope, has stated that it would be very interested in hosting the negotiations. Let the process begin!”
Al Jazeera’s Yulia Shapovalova, reporting from Moscow, said the call was “very important” for Putin.
“He [Putin] believes that the US – because of its influence – can resolve any problems. Vladimir Putin believes that initially the US was standing behind Ukraine in this conflict, masterminding it,” Shapovalova said.
“So, to address the so-called root causes of the conflict, it was important to speak directly with Donald Trump and with the US.”
‘I think we’ll solve it’
Trump briefed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders on the call. Zelenskyy has insisted if Putin doesn’t commit to a ceasefire stronger sanctions on Russia should be imposed.
Trump, who has promised to bring a swift end to Europe’s deadliest war since World War Two, has repeatedly called for a ceasefire after years in which Washington joined other Western countries in arming Ukraine.
Putin recently rejected an offer by Zelenskyy to meet in-person in Turkiye, for talks between the two nations the Russian leader suggested himself, as an alternative to a 30-day ceasefire urged by Ukraine and its Western allies, including Washington.
Those inconclusive direct talks, the first in three years, between delegations from Ukraine and Russia in Turkiye’s Istanbul on Friday were brief and only yielded an agreement to swap 1,000 prisoners of war, according to the heads of both delegations, in what would be their biggest such exchange since the war began.
A senior Ukrainian official familiar with the talks said Russian negotiators demanded Kyiv pull its troops out of all its regions claimed by Moscow before they would agree to a ceasefire. That is a red line for Ukraine, and as it stands, Russia does not have full control in those regions.
Ukraine’s intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, told Ukrainian television Saturday that the exchanges could happen as early as this week.
While wrapping up his four-day trip to the Middle East, Trump said Friday that Putin had not gone to Istanbul because Trump himself wasn’t there.
“He and I will meet, and I think we’ll solve it or maybe not,” Trump told reporters after boarding Air Force One. “At least we’ll know. And if we don’t solve it, it’ll be very interesting.”
European leaders have said they want the United States to join them in imposing tough new sanctions on Russia for refusing a ceasefire. The leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Italy spoke to Trump on Sunday ahead of his call with Putin.
Al Jazeera’s John Hendren, reporting from Kyiv, said there has been no reaction in Ukraine so far.
“There’s probably not going to be a lot of celebrations unless the details are much more revealing than what we’ve seen so far,” Hendren said.
The calls have taken place a day after Russia launched its largest drone attack on Ukraine since the start of the war.
Ukraine’s intelligence service said it also believed Moscow intended to fire an intercontinental ballistic missile on Sunday, though there was no confirmation from Russia that it had done so.
