- Putin says talks on the right track.
- Ready to work with Ukraine on peace: Russian president.
- Russia says ceasefire idea needs to be worked on.
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin, after a call with US President Donald Trump on Monday, said that efforts to end the war in Ukraine were on the right track and that Moscow was ready to work with Ukraine on a memorandum about future peace accord.
Putin thanked Trump for supporting the resumption of direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv, 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.”
Taking to his Truth Social network, Trump said Russia and Ukraine had agreed to “immediately” start ceasefire talks.
“Just completed my two-hour call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. I believe it went very well,” he added.
“Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War.”
Trump added that the “tone and spirit of the conversation were excellent.”
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.
After the European leaders’ phone call with Trump on Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron said on X: “Tomorrow President Putin must show he wants peace by accepting the 30-day unconditional ceasefire proposed by President Trump and backed by Ukraine and Europe.”
Putin is wary of a ceasefire and says fighting cannot be paused until conditions are met, including a halt to Western arms for Kyiv.
European leaders say Putin is not serious about peace. They worry that Trump may abandon support for Kyiv, forcing it to accept a punitive peace deal that would leave Ukraine shorn of a fifth of its territory and lacking a strong security guarantee against possible future attack.
Before Trump returned to office this year, Washington joined Western European leaders and Ukraine in describing Russia’s invasion as an imperial-style land grab.
Trump’s administration has shifted US policy towards accepting some of Russia’s account of the conflict, which Moscow says it launched because of a security threat from Ukraine’s drift towards the West.
