By Steve Holland, Guy Faulconbridge and Olena Harmash
WASHINGTON/MOSCOW/KYIV (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday Russia and Ukraine will immediately start ceasefire negotiations in the three-year-old conflict, but he did not appear to secure major concessions from President Vladimir Putin during a two-hour phone call.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he relayed the plan for talks to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as well as the leaders of the European Union, France, Italy, Germany and Finland in a group call following his session with Putin.
“Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War,” Trump said, adding later at the White House he thought that “some progress is being made.”
After speaking to Trump, Putin said efforts to end the war were “generally on the right track” and that Moscow was ready to work with Ukraine on a potential peace deal.
“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,” he told reporters near the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
European leaders and Ukraine have demanded Russia agree to a ceasefire immediately, and Trump has focused on getting Putin to commit to a 30-day truce.
Putin has resisted that, insisting that conditions be met first, and apparently gave no ground on Monday. Remarks from the Kremlin leader and Trump indicated a ceasefire will be discussed alongside a broader peace accord.
Former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt said on X the call with Trump was “undoubtedly a win for Putin.” The Russian leader “deflected the call for an … immediate ceasefire and instead can continue military operations at the same time as he puts pressure on at the negotiating table.”
HIGH-LEVEL MEETING
After speaking with Trump, Zelenskiy said Kyiv and its partners might seek a high-level meeting among Ukraine, Russia, the United States, European Union countries and Britain as part of a push to end the war.
He said he hoped this could happen soon and be hosted by Turkey, the Vatican or Switzerland. It was not immediately clear if this would be part of the negotiations Trump said would start immediately.
Trump said the Vatican, “as represented by the Pope, has stated that it would be very interested in hosting the negotiations. Let the process begin!” The Vatican did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the conversation with Trump was “good” and it was “important that the U.S. stays engaged.”
Ukraine and its supporters have accused Russia of failing to negotiate in good faith, doing the minimum needed to keep Trump from applying new pressure on its economy in the form of additional sanctions.
Prodded by Trump, delegates from the warring countries met last week in Istanbul for the first time since 2022, in the early months of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Istanbul talks failed to produce a truce. Prospects for progress dimmed after Putin spurned Zelenskiy’s proposal they meet face to face in Istanbul, and Trump said there would be no movement unless he and Putin met.
Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters Putin and Trump discussed what the U.S. leader called “impressive” prospects for ties between their countries and adding that Russia and the United States are working on a new prisoner swap.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who was visiting Rome earlier repeated a warning that Washington could walk away from the peace process without progress. Vance said: “We’re eventually going to say: ‘You know what? That was worth a try, but we’re not doing any more.'”
PUTIN FOCUSED ON ‘ROOT CAUSES’
Putin said the memorandum Russia and Ukraine would work on about a future peace accord would define “a number of positions, such as, for example, the principles of settlement, the timing of a possible peace agreement.”
“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.
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 three years when Washington joined other Western countries in arming Ukraine.
European leaders have said they want the United States to join them in imposing tough new sanctions on Russia for refusing a ceasefire. If that were to happen, it would be a milestone moment in Trump’s fledgling presidency, during which he has so far shown sympathies towards Russia and torn up the pro-Ukraine policies of his predecessor, Joe Biden.
Putin, whose forces control a fifth of Ukraine and are advancing, has stood firm on his conditions for ending the war, despite public and private pressure from Trump and repeated warnings from European powers.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Vladimir Soldatkin in Moscow, Max Hunder and Tom Balmforth in Kyiv, Maxim Rodionov in London and Steve Holland, Susan Heavey Rami Ayyub and David Brunstrom in Washington; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Gareth Jones and Cynthia Osterman)
