After Putin call, Trump says Russia, Ukraine will start ceasefire talks

US president says two sides will ‘immediately’ start talks to reach a truce, as Putin says efforts on ‘right track’.

United States President Donald Trump has said, after a more-than-two-hour call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, that Moscow and Kyiv “will immediately start negotiations” toward a ceasefire and an end to their war, now in its fourth bloody year.

Putin said that efforts to end the conflict seemed “on the right track” and that Moscow was ready to work with Ukraine on a memorandum about a future peace accord.

Putin thanked Trump for supporting the resumption of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine, and said that Trump noted Russia’s support for peace, though the key question was how to move towards peace.

“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, defining a number of positions, such as, for example, the principles of settlement, [and] the timing of a possible peace agreement,” Putin told reporters near the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

If appropriate agreements are reached, then there could be a ceasefire, Putin said, adding that direct talks between Russia and Ukraine “give reason to believe that we are generally on the right track”.