SOURCE :- THE AGE NEWS
London: US President Donald Trump has declared that Russia and Ukraine will “immediately start negotiations toward a ceasefire” following a lengthy phone conversation with Vladimir Putin – a claim that drew cautious international reactions and left key questions unanswered.
Trump’s announcement, delivered via a post on his Truth Social platform, followed a two-hour call with the Russian president that he described as having gone “very well”. He added: “The tone and spirit of the conversation were excellent.”
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the Ukraine war in a two-hour phone call.Credit: Getty
According to Trump, the Vatican had expressed interest in hosting the proposed talks. “Let the process begin!” he wrote.
The war sparked by Putin’s invasion, now in its third year, has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and displaced millions of people. Previous rounds of peace talks have collapsed amid continued fighting and mutual mistrust.
While the US president projected optimism after the call on Monday, Washington time, there was little evidence from Moscow that Russia’s position on the war had shifted.
Putin, speaking to Russian state media, confirmed the conversation and said Moscow was prepared to work with Kyiv on a memorandum laying the groundwork for peace – including a possible ceasefire “for a certain amount of time” – but stopped short of making firm commitments.
“We agreed with the US president that Russia will propose and is ready to work with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum about the possible future peace agreement,” he said.
Putin called the exchange “very candid and therefore very useful,” but reiterated longstanding Kremlin rhetoric, asserting that Russia’s objective remains “to eliminate the root causes of this crisis”.
Putin’s vague commitment comes just one week after he refused to attend peace talks in Turkey, where Ukrainian and Russian delegates met for the first time since 2022. The Kremlin’s no-show drew criticism from Western officials who accused Moscow of continuing its military campaign while stalling diplomacy.
In Washington, Trump framed the outcome of the call as a breakthrough, even as he deferred responsibility for the next steps to the two warring nations.
“The conditions for [a ceasefire and end to the war] 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 wrote.
Trump said he also briefed several European leaders after the call, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Finnish President Alexander Stubb.
Von der Leyen praised Trump for what she calls “his tireless efforts” to bring about a ceasefire, while Merz said all participants in the call “reaffirmed their willingness to closely support Ukraine on its path toward a ceasefire”.
Trump noted that Pope Leo had expressed an interest in hosting the talks, following J.D. Vance’s meeting with the newly installed pontiff, where he invited the pontiff to the White House.
He also presented the prospect of peace as an economic opportunity.
“There is a tremendous opportunity for Russia to create massive amounts of jobs and wealth,” Trump wrote. “Likewise, Ukraine can be a great beneficiary on Trade, in the process of rebuilding its Country.”
He added: “Russia wants to do large-scale TRADE with the United States when this catastrophic ‘bloodbath’ is over, and I agree. Its potential is UNLIMITED.”
However, the gap between Trump’s upbeat framing and Putin’s guarded language has raised eyebrows in diplomatic circles. European leaders remain wary that any Trump-led peace initiative might bypass established frameworks and lead to a settlement that concedes too much to Russia.
Despite Trump’s portrayal of progress, few concrete outcomes were confirmed. The Kremlin has not committed to a timeline, nor to a permanent cessation of hostilities. Analysts point to Putin’s continued use of terms like “root causes” – a reference often interpreted as code for demands including Ukrainian neutrality, NATO rollback, and recognition of Russian territorial claims.
Diplomatic efforts to end the war have intensified in recent weeks, with renewed talks in Istanbul marking the first face-to-face engagement between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in over two years. However, major obstacles remain, including fundamental disagreements over sovereignty, territory, and security guarantees.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier he had ordered the creation of a “permanent and expanded national negotiation group” to engage in direct talks with Russia.
In a Facebook post, he stressed that Ukraine is not afraid of such negotiations and urged Moscow not to prolong the war, adding that his delegation had resisted Russian threats during recent talks in Turkey.
Zelensky also said Ukraine was ready for a leaders-level meeting to resolve key issues, though Moscow has so far rejected a direct meeting between him and Putin.
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