US President Donald Trump had a telephone conversation with Putin regarding the war in Ukraine. It was the second official contact between the leaders since Trump’s inauguration as US president in January 2025 and took place against the backdrop of recent talks between the delegations of Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul. About this informs Sky News.
“My two-hour conversation with Putin has ended. I think it went very well. Russia and Ukraine will immediately begin negotiations on a ceasefire and, more importantly, on ending the war.” Trump said after the talks.
According to him, the tone and atmosphere of the conversation was very positive. Russia “aspires” to develop large-scale trade with the United States after the end of this catastrophic “bloodbath”.
In turn, Putin called the conversation with Trump “meaningful, frank and very useful”:
“First of all, I thanked the President of the United States for the support from the United States in resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine regarding the possible conclusion of a peace agreement, regarding the resumption of negotiations that were interrupted by the Ukrainian side, as you know, back in 2022.”
The President of the Russian Federation emphasized that a ceasefire with Ukraine is possible only after “achieving relevant agreements”:
“The President of the United States voiced his position regarding the cessation of hostilities, a truce, and I, for my part, also noted that in Russia they are in favor of a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis. We should simply determine the most effective ways of moving towards peace. We agreed that Russia will propose and is ready to work with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum on a possible future peace treaty defining a number of positions.”
Putin noted that the memorandum between Russia and Ukraine may include issues of a ceasefire and principles of settlement. In his opinion, the resumption of negotiations in Istanbul shows that the parties are “generally on the right track”:
“Once again, I want to emphasize that the conversation was very constructive, and I value it highly. The question, of course, is that the Russian and Ukrainian sides show the maximum desire for peace and find those compromises that would suit all parties. At the same time, I want to note that in general, Russia’s position is clear, the main thing for us is to eliminate the root causes of this crisis.”
