US President Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday and announced that Russia and Ukraine would begin immediate negotiations toward a ceasefire. However, the Kremlin said that any agreement would take time, and Trump signalled he was not prepared to join Europe in imposing new sanctions to pressure Moscow.

Trump said he had a “little conversation with a nice gentleman named Vladimir Putin”. He claimed that progress was being made, stating that around 5,000 young soldiers are being killed every week on average, possibly more, along with civilians in towns.

“We’re trying to stop it. It’s an absolute bloodbath,” he said, adding that he had seen satellite images that were “so bad, so horrible”.

Trump added, “We’re doing the best we can. This was not our war. This was not me. We’re doing something from the last administration. How did they allow that to happen? It wouldn’t have happened.”

In a social media post, Trump said he shared the plan with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the leaders of the European Union, France, Italy, Germany and Finland during a group call held after his conversation with the Russian leader.

WHAT PUTIN SAID

After his conversation with Trump, Putin said that efforts to end the war were “generally on the right track” and added that Moscow was willing to work with Ukraine on a possible peace agreement.

“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, as per Reuters.

WHAT ZELENSKYY SAID

After his conversation with Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Kyiv and its partners were considering a high-level meeting involving Ukraine, Russia, the United States, EU countries, and Britain as part of efforts to end the war.

He expressed hope that the meeting could take place soon, possibly hosted by Turkey, the Vatican, or Switzerland. However, it remained unclear whether this would be part of the negotiations that Trump said would begin immediately.