Russia and Ukraine to 'immediately' start ceasefire talks as Zelenskyy pitches ‘high-level’ meeting of world leaders
Donald Trump has said Russia and Ukraine will “immediately” begin ceasefire negotiations following his two-hour phone call with Vladimir Putin.
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The US President held crunch talks with Russia’s leader, as well as Volodomyr Zelenskyy, on Monday as he seeks an end to what he calls the “bloodbath in Ukraine”
Following his call with Mr Putin, Trump took to TruthSocial to announce peace talks would begin “immediately” - a claim since disputed by the Kremlin.
Mr Trump wrote: "Just completed my two hour call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. I believe it went very well.
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"Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War.
"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."
He added that the "tone and spirit were excellent", claiming that Russia wants to do large-scale trade with the US.
Speaking at a press conference on deepfake AI pornography later on Monday, Mr Trump added: “Progress has been made.
“We’re trying to get that whole thing wrapped up - what a shame it all started in the first place.”
He went on to say Mr Putin was full of praise for his wife, Melania.
“He likes her more!” The President joked.
Meanwhile, the Russian leader described his call with Mr Trump as "informative, frank and very useful", RIA Novosti reported
Moscow is reportedly ready to work with Kyiv on a memorandum on a future peace treaty, Putin was quoted by state media as saying.
He said: “It was a very informative and quite a frank conversation, and very useful in this respect. First of all, I thanked the US president for US support in resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine on a possible peace agreement.
“The US president voiced his position on a ceasefire. For my part, I noted that Russia, too, favours a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis. We simply must determine the most effective ways of moving towards peace.”
Elsewhere, President Zelenskyy has pitched a “high-level meeting” between Ukraine, Russia, the US, EU and the UK in a bid to find peace.
Speaking after his call with Mr Trump, Zelenskyy said: "We are considering a meeting of all teams at a high level.
"I am very focused, it is a challenging time for us now," he added.
In a Facebook post, Mr Zelenskyy said: "Ukraine is not afraid of direct talks with Russia, and it is important that the Russian leadership not prolong the war."
He said Russia's alleged " threats" to his delegation in Turkey last week were rejected, adding that his own team succeeded in "keeping the talks in a dignified manner".
"We are also prepared for a meeting at the level of leaders to solve the key issues," he added.