President Trump announced on Monday that Russia and Ukraine would "immediately" begin cease-fire talks in their ongoing 39-month war after a two-hour call with Vladimir Putin, who said that Moscow wouldn't agree to peace until the "root cause" of the "crisis" was resolved. Trump had earlier said he would call Putin on Monday and talk about ceasefire.
"Just completed my two hour call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia," Trump announced on Truth Social. "I believe it went very well. Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War. The tone and spirit of the conversation were excellent," the president added.
Trump Keeps His Promise
"If it wasn't, I would say so now, rather than later. Russia wants to do largescale TRADE with the United States when this catastrophic "bloodbath" is over, and I agree. 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 further wrote.
The 78-year-old said that he had shared details about his phone call with Putin with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as 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.
"The Vatican, as represented by the Pope, has stated that it would be very interested in hosting the negotiations," Trump ended. "Let the process begin!"
Putin called the discussion "frank and meaningful" in a statement, and appreciated Trump's effort for engaging directly with both sides involved in the war.
"Russia is ready to work with Kyiv on a memorandum on a future peace treaty which could include issues of a cease-fire and principles for resolving the conflict," Putin, 78, said after the call adding that there is a "need to work out the most effective paths toward peace" that would be suitable to "all sides."
Beginning of an End
Putin said that Russia's overall stance remains unchanged, alluding to his unfounded 2022 justification for the invasion — claiming it was aimed at "de-Nazifying" Ukraine and protecting Russian-speaking citizens from alleged mistreatment by Kyiv.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian and Russian representatives held direct talks in Turkey on Friday — the first in over three years. However, Putin did not participate.
During the meeting, both parties agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of war each and committed to resuming discussions with proposed plans for achieving a cease-fire.
Earlier on Monday, Vice President JD Vance spoke to reporters aboard Air Force Two, saying that the Trump administration wanted to see if Putin was genuinely interested in pursuing peace talks — and made it clear they were fully prepared to disengage if he wasn't.
"The president has been very clear," Vance said. "There's a bit of an impasse here, and I think the president's going to say to President Putin, 'Look, are you serious, are you real about this?'"
Vance warned that if meaningful progress isn't made, the Trump administration will label Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II as "Joe Biden's war" — and will withdraw from any further attempts to mediate.
"It's not our war. We're going to try to end it, but if we can't end it, we are eventually going to say, 'that was worth a try, but we're not doing it anymore.'"
