Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump held a phone call lasting over two hours on Monday, with both leaders addressing the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Putin expressed Russia’s readiness to move toward ending the war, emphasising the need for compromise between Moscow and Kyiv.
“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,” Putin said during a press briefing. The proposed memorandum would outline principles of settlement and timelines for a potential agreement, he added.
Putin thanked Trump for supporting the resumption of direct Russia-Ukraine talks and acknowledged Trump’s recognition of Russia’s willingness to pursue peace. “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.”
“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,” Trump said in a social media post.
According to the White House, President Trump has grown increasingly “frustrated” with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy due to the stalled progress in negotiations. Despite this, Trump reportedly welcomed Russia’s initiative to engage in renewed discussions with Ukraine.
Putin signaled that if meaningful agreements can be reached, a ceasefire may be within reach. He added that the resumption of direct dialogue with Kyiv “gives reason to believe that we are generally on the right track.”
Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that while the two leaders did not discuss a timeline for a ceasefire in Ukraine, Trump emphasised his desire to reach agreements swiftly.
“The presidents also spoke in some detail about the future of our relations, and President Trump, I can say, spoke quite emotionally about the prospects for these relations,” Ushakov said.
“He specifically emphasised that the prospects for bilateral relations after the Ukrainian conflict is resolved look impressive, and that as the president of the United States, he sees Russia as one of America’s most important partners in trade and economic matters.”