Putin paints two-hour Ukraine call with Trump as 'very useful'

Russian President Vladimir Putin held out the prospect of working on a truce with Ukraine under certain conditions after what he called a "very frank" and "useful" phone call with Donald Trump that lasted more than two hours.

He agreed with President Trump that Russia would work on details of a memorandum with Ukraine on a future peace treaty that included "the principles of a settlement, the timing of a possible peace agreement, and so on, including a possible ceasefire for a certain time if appropriate agreements are reached," Putin told reporters in the Russian resort city of Sochi late Monday, without elaborating.

The resumption of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine last week in Istanbul after a break of three years showed that the peace process is "on the right track," Putin said.

This was the third publicly announced call between the two leaders since Trump returned to the presidency in January. Trump spoke earlier by phone to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and plans a further call with him on Monday as well as talks with some of his NATO allies.