Ukraine, Russia consider peace talks
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Kyiv and its partners were considering arranging a high-level meeting between Ukraine, Russia, the United States, European Union countries and Britain as part of a push to end Moscow's war in Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters in Kyiv after holding two phone calls with U.S. 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.
Zelenskiy said he spoke to Trump one-on-one before the U.S. leader called Russian President Vladimir Putin, and again afterwards in a conversation that involved the leaders of France, Finland, Germany, Italy and the European Union.
Trump said after his call with Putin that Russia and Ukraine "will immediately start negotiations" towards a ceasefire.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, after a call with U.S. President Donald Trump, said that Moscow was ready to work with Ukraine on a memorandum about a future peace accord and that efforts to end the war in Ukraine were on the right track.
Putin thanked Trump for supporting the resumption of direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv, after the two sides met in Turkey last week for their first face-to-face negotiations since March 2022. He said that Trump noted Russia's support for peace, though the key question was how to move towards that goal.
"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, the timing of a possible peace agreement," Putin told reporters near the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
He said that as part of this work, the two countries would have to define a possible ceasefire, including its time frame. Ukraine, its European allies and the United States have all urged Putin to accept an immediate, unconditional ceasefire lasting at least 30 days.
