Ukraine-Russia ceasefire: Putin calls conversation with Trump as ‘constructive’

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday described his telephonic conversation with his American counterpart over the Ukraine ceasefire issue as ‘highly constructive’.

In a statement, Putin said: “I would like to reiterate that the conversation was highly constructive, and I assess it positively.”

Trump and Putin interacted over the telephone against the backdrop of the recent direct talks held between delegations from Kyiv and Moscow in Turkey last week.

Putin expressed gratitude to the US for facilitating the resumption of talks between Russia and Ukraine.

He said: “The President of the United States shared his position on the cessation of hostilities and the prospects for a ceasefire. For my part, I noted that Russia also supports a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis as well. What we need now is to identify the most effective ways towards achieving peace.”

“We agreed with the President of the United States that Russia would propose and is ready to engage with the Ukrainian side on drafting a memorandum regarding a potential future peace agreement,” he said.

“This would include outlining a range of provisions, such as the principles for settlement, the timeframe for a possible peace deal, and other matters, including a potential temporary ceasefire, should the necessary agreements be reached,” the Russian President said.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who had a telephone conversation with Trump and other European leaders over the issue of ceasefire, on Tuesday said Russia must end the war it started.

Zelenskyy wrote on X: “I spoke with @POTUS twice today. First, we had a one-on-one call before his conversation with the head of Russia, and later we spoke together with President Trump and European leaders President @EmmanuelMacron, Prime Minister @GiorgiaMeloni, Federal Chancellor @bundeskanzler, President @alexstubb, and President of the European Commission @vonderleyen.”

He described the conversation with the world leaders as a ‘defining moment’.

He further said: “The world can now see whether its leaders are truly capable of securing a ceasefire and achieving real, lasting peace.”

“At the beginning of our bilateral conversation, I reaffirmed to President Trump that Ukraine is ready for a full and unconditional ceasefire, as has spoken about, particularly the United States. It is important not to dilute this proposal. If the Russians are not ready to stop the killings, there must be stronger sanctions. Pressure on Russia will push it toward real peace – this is obvious to everyone around the world,” he said.

Zelenskyy said he is ready for direct negotiations with Russia in any format that brings results.

Trump on Monday announced that Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations towards a ceasefire following his two-hour call with President Vladimir Putin.

‘Immediate negotiations’

Describing his conversation with President Putin as one that went “very well”, he said that the negotiations are a significant step towards the “end of the war”.

“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,” Trump said in a post on TruthSocial.

Trump said the “tone and spirit of the conversation were excellent”.