US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, had a two-hour-long call on Monday, which the American leader claimed "went very well" and said that Moscow has agreed to "immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire" with Ukraine. However, the Kremlin asserted that during the call, the two leaders had not discussed a timeline for a ceasefire, but that Trump had stressed his interest in reaching agreements quickly.
For President Trump, Monday's call seemed like a major occasion, meant to ascertain Putin's willingness to end the conflict in Ukraine. He previewed the call in all capital letters on social media, raising hopes for peace in Ukraine. For Putin, however, it seemed like a regular state affair for which he did not even clear his schedule. He squeezed in the call from a school for gifted children in Sochi.
After the call, the Russian leader said that Russia would work with Ukraine on a memorandum about a future peace accord, opposed to Trump, who said Russia and Ukraine would "immediately start negotiations" toward a ceasefire.
Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov later told reporters that Putin and Trump had not discussed a timeline for a ceasefire.
"The presidents also spoke in some detail about the future of our relations, and President Trump, I can say, spoke quite emotionally about the prospects for these relations," Ushakov said.
"He specifically emphasised that the prospects for bilateral relations after the Ukrainian conflict is resolved look impressive, and that as the president of the United States, he sees Russia as one of America's most important partners in trade and economic matters."
Ushakov said the two countries were working out the details of an exchange of prisoners jailed in Russia and the United States involving nine people on each side, although he did not say when it might take place.
Trump and Putin were both in favour of meeting in person and said they would assign their teams to work on preparing a meeting, Ushakov said, but no venue has been agreed.
But in his Truth Social post later, Trump suggested that peace talks between Russia and Ukraine could take place in the Vatican.
"The Vatican, as represented by the Pope, has stated that it would be very interested in hosting the negotiations. Let the process begin," he wrote.
He also told reporters that if he "thought that President Putin did not want to get this over with, I wouldn't even be talking about it. I'd just pull out. I think he's had enough."
Yet Putin has only ramped up drone and missile attacks on Ukraine, including this weekend on its capital, Kyiv.
