President Donald Trump said on Monday that Russia and Ukraine "will immediately start negotiations" toward a ceasefire and an end to their three-year-old war, speaking after he held a call with Russia President Vladimir Putin.
"Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine will begin immediately," Trump said in a Truth Social post following his call with Putin, which lasted two hours.
After the call, 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," Putin told reporters near the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
Putin thanked Trump for supporting the resumption of direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv, after the two sides met in Turkey last week for their first face-to-face negotiations since March 2022. He said that Trump noted Russia's support for peace, though the key question was how to move toward that goal.
Putin said that as part of this work, the two countries would have to define a possible ceasefire, including its time frame. Ukraine, its European allies and the United States have urged Putin to accept an immediate, unconditional ceasefire lasting at least 30 days.
Putin added that the holding of 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."
There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on the statement that talks would begin immediately. A source familiar with the matter earlier said Zelenskiy spoke "for a few minutes" with Trump before the U.S. leader's call with Putin.
Kyiv has said it is ready for a ceasefire now while Moscow has said conditions must be met first.
In his social media post, 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!"
Putin and Trump spoke after direct talks last week in Turkey between Moscow and Kyiv, the first since 2022 in the early months of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Talks last week failed to agree on a truce.
Putin said the memorandum would define "a number of positions, such as, for example, the principles of settlement, the timing of a possible peace agreement."
He said that if appropriate agreements were reached, there could be a ceasefire, adding that direct talks between Russia and Ukraine gave "reason to believe that we are generally on the right track."
"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.
He thanked Trump for supporting the resumption of direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv and said Trump noted Russia's support for peace, though the key question was how to move toward peace.
Trump, who has promised to bring a swift end to Europe's deadliest war since World War II, has repeatedly called for a ceasefire after three years when Washington joined other Western countries in arming Ukraine.
Putin was speaking from Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi while Trump was in Washington.
Shortly before the call, Vice President JD Vance earlier repeated a warning that Washington could walk away from the peace process.
"I think honestly that President Putin, he doesn't quite know how to get out of the war," Vance said.
He said it "takes two to tango. I know the president's willing to do that, but if Russia is not willing to do that, then we're eventually just going to say, 'This is not our war.' "
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump wanted to see a ceasefire, but that he had grown "weary and frustrated with both sides of the conflict."
Asked if a package of secondary sanctions against Russia remains on the table, she said: "I think everything's on the table."
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.