Vladimir Putin has said he is “ready to work” with Kyiv on possible peace talks to end the war in Ukraine but made no mention of an immediate ceasefire.
It comes following a two-hour phone call between US President Donald Trump and Putin, which the Russian leader referred to as a “very informative and very frank” conversation.
Putin said the warring countries should "find compromises that would suit all parties,” adding that Moscow will "propose and is ready to work with" Ukraine on a "memorandum" outlining the framework for "a possible future peace treaty."
"At the same time, I would like to note that, in general, Russia's position is clear. The main thing for us is to eliminate the root causes of this crisis," the Russian president added.
Trump appeared more optimistic about the phone call, describing it as “excellent”, as he also laid out plans for opening trade with Russia after the war was over.
The US president said that Russia and Ukraine will "immediately" begin ceasefire negotiations.
Trump also spoke with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders in hopes of making progress toward a ceasefire.
"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 social media post.
The conversations came after the White House said the US leader has grown "frustrated" with both leaders over the continuing war in Ukraine.
Zelensky said on Monday that Kyiv and its partners were considering setting up a meeting of the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, the United States, European Union countries and Britain as part of a push to end the war.
Speaking to reporters in Kyiv after holding two phone calls on Monday with US President Donald Trump, the Ukrainian leader said he hoped the meeting could happen as soon as possible and that it could be hosted by Turkey, the Vatican or Switzerland.
Zelensky also said that he had emphasised to Trump that no decisions should be made about Ukraine without involving Kyiv. He also said that he discussed the potential for "serious sanctions" on Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the conversation "important, given the talks that took place in Istanbul" last week between Russian and Ukrainian officials, the first such negotiations since March 2022.
Russian presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov, who previously served as Russian ambassador to the US, described the conversation as friendly, with Trump and Putin addressing each other by their first names.
"Trump said, 'Vladimir, you can pick up the phone at any time, and I will be happy to answer and speak with you'," he said.
Ushakov also said Trump and Putin could meet face-to-face at some point, but no timeline was set.
