Trump says negotiations between Ukraine and Russia will ‘begin immediately’ following call with Putin

President Donald Trump held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin early Monday, and later said that negotiations between Ukraine and Russia will start immediately.

The call between the two leaders lasted over two hours and Trump posted on Truth Social, “The tone and spirit of the conversation were excellent.”

Trump spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the call and again afterward to inform him of the conversation.

He also spoke with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Finnish President Alexander Stubb immediately after the call with Putin.

The call between Trump and Putin is the third known time the two leaders have spoke over the phone since Trump’s inauguration in January. It also comes “as the U.S. president has grown increasingly frustrated with the Russian president’s refusal to strike a peace deal with Ukraine,” per CNN.

What Trump said about his call with Putin

Trump posted a statement on Truth Social about his phone call with the Russian president.

“I believe it went very well. Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War,” he wrote.

He added that the conditions for peace and the end of the war will be negotiated by Ukraine and Russia “as it can only be.”

Trump also wrote that Russia wants to do “largescale TRADE” with the U.S. the war ends and that he agrees.

“There is a tremendous opportunity for Russia to create massive amounts of jobs and wealth. Its potential is UNLIMITED. Likewise, Ukraine can be a great beneficiary on Trade, in the process of rebuilding its Country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

He repeated that negotiations between the two countries will “begin immediately.”

Trump said the Vatican is interested in hosting the negotiations, “Let the process begin!”

What Putin said about the call

Following the phone call with Trump, Putin said Moscow is ready to work toward an end to the fighting in Ukraine, according to The Associated Press.

The Russian president also indicated that there was no major breakthrough made during the conversation, which he described as “very informative and very frank.”

He also said his country and Ukraine should “find compromises that would suit all parties,” per the AP.

Putin also thanked Trump for support in the resumption of direct talks between Ukraine and Russia.

“The US president expressed his position on the secession of hostilities, ceasefire, and from my end, I have emphasized that Russia stands for peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian crisis. We just need to outline the most effective routes of moving towards peace,” Putin said while speaking to reporters, per CNN.

What happened during the talks between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey

On Friday, peace talks were held between Russia and Ukraine for the first time since the war began in February 2022, as previously reported by the Deseret News.

The talks lasted for two hours and the two sides agreed to a prisoner swap where the the two countries will exchange 1,000 war prisoners. Details of the exchange have not been released.

In addition to the prisoner exchange, Russia and Ukraine agreed to share detailed ceasefire proposals with each other and meet again.

There were delegates from Ukraine, Russia, the U.S. and Turkey present at the talks, which took place in Turkey.

What JD Vance said ahead of Trump’s call with Putin

Ahead of the call on Monday morning, Vice President JD Vance spoke to reporters aboard Air Force Two about the phone call between Trump and Putin, per CNN.

The vice president said he believed Trump would be asking the Russian president if he is “serious” about peace with Ukraine, adding that the U.S. is “not going to spin its wheels” as it works to reach a resolution.

“The talks have been proceeding for a little while. We realize that we’re at a bit of an impasse here. I think the president’s going to say to President Putin, look, are you serious? Are you real about this?” Vance said, according to CNN. “There are a lot of economic benefits to thawing relations between Russia and the rest of the world, but you’re not going to get those benefits if you keep on killing a lot of innocent people.”

He did add that the U.S. is willing to walk away from the peace talks, something that he has said before.

“We want to see outcomes, and the first major outcome that we wanted to see, which we were glad about, is that we wanted to see the Russians and the Ukrainians to put a real peace proposal on the table. What would you need to do in order to stop fighting? That happened. The second thing is that they needed to agree to talks with one another,” he said, per CNN.

He said that he wishes the president all the best during his call with Putin, adding that he thinks he’s the “right guy” to negotiate for the U.S.

Trump’s conversations with European leaders ahead of call with Putin

Before the call with Putin, Trump started his morning with a phone call to Zelenskyy, per CNN.

This came as a surprise as it was believed that the call with Putin would be the start of Trump’s diplomacy for the day.

On Sunday, Trump spoke to a variety of European leaders by phone: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Macron, Merz and Meloni. The group warned Trump against rushing into a peace deal without substantial concessions from Russia, per The Washington Post.

“The leaders discussed the need for an unconditional ceasefire and for President Putin to take peace talks seriously,” Starmer‘s office said about the call.

The group also discussed using sanctions “if Russia failed to engage seriously in a ceasefire and peace talks,” per The Washington Post.

These European leaders have stood in support of Ukraine throughout the war and have been wary of Trump’s relationship with Putin.