RUSSIA and Ukraine will “immediately” begin ceasefire negotiations, US President Donald Trump has said following separate phone calls with both countries’ leaders.

But the conversations did not appear to yield a major breakthrough in the three-year war and it was left unclear where and when talks might continue.

Monday’s announcement by Mr Trump came days after Turkey hosted the first direct talks between Russia and Ukraine since 2022, which brought about a limited prisoner exchange but no pause in the fighting.

The US president described the call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as “excellent” and said he believed the Russian leader was serious about wanting peace.

In a social media post, Mr Trump said: “The conditions for that will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be, because they know details of a negotiation that nobody else would be aware of.”

After the call, Mr Putin said Russia was ready to continue discussing an end to the fighting after a “very informative and very frank” conversation with Mr Trump. 

The Russian president said the warring countries should “find compromises that would suit all parties.”

Moscow, he pledged, would “propose and is ready to work with” Ukraine on a memorandum outlining the framework for “a possible future peace treaty.”

However, Mr Putin added: “At the same time, I would like to note that, in general, Russia’s position is clear. The main thing for us is to eliminate the root causes of this crisis.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Moscow and Kiev were “now engaged in dialogue,” adding: “These contacts have been revived, which is quite important at this stage.”

Mr Peskov said there was a shared interest “in a swift settlement.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that he had told Mr Trump that Ukraine was ready for a full and unconditional ceasefire. He urged the international community to maintain pressure on Moscow if it refused to halt its invasion.

“Our representatives are ready to make real decisions. What’s needed is mirrored readiness from Russia for such result-oriented negotiations,” Mr Zelensky said.

Mr Zelensky spoke to Mr Trump one on one before the call with Mr Putin and then jointly with European leaders afterwards.

The Ukrainian president told reporters that he had told Mr Trump that no decisions should be made about Ukraine without Kiev’s involvement. He also said that he had discussed the potential for “serious sanctions” against Russia if it failed to move towards a ceasefire.