After Putin call, Trump says Russia-Ukraine talks to begin ‘immediately’

US President Donald Trump said his call with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Monday went very well. (File/AFP)

• Under pressure from Trump, delegates from the warring countries met last week in Istanbul for the first time since 2022
• “Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine will begin immediately,” Trump said in a Truth Social post

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said his call with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Monday went very well and that Moscow and Kyiv would immediately start negotiations toward a ceasefire and end to the war.
Under pressure from Trump, delegates from the warring countries met last week in Istanbul for the first time since 2022, though they failed to agree to a truce. Kyiv says it is ready for a ceasefire now; Moscow says conditions must be met first.
“Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine will begin immediately,” Trump said in a Truth Social post following his call with Putin, which lasted two hours.
Trump said he held a joint call with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky as well as the leaders of the European Union, France, Italy, Germany and Finland following his call with Putin. Trump informed those leaders that negotiations would start immediately, he said.
Trump floated the idea of newly installed Pope Leo as host for the talks, saying: “The Vatican, as represented by the Pope, has stated that it would be very interested in hosting the negotiations.”
Trump said that the “tone and spirit of the conversation (with Putin) were excellent,” and that Russia wants to do “largescale” trade with the US once the war is over.
He said that Ukraine would also benefit from trade “in the process of rebuilding its country.”