Trump says Russia, Ukraine to start ceasefire talks immediately

US President Donald Trump on Monday said Russia and Ukraine would begin negotiations towards a ceasefire "immediately," after he held a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the grinding conflict. 

"Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform after the call, adding that the "tone and spirit of the conversation were excellent."

Trump said he had also briefed European leaders on his two-hour call with Putin and that the Vatican had offered to host the negotiations.

"The tone and spirit of the conversation were excellent. If it wasn't, I would say so now, rather than later," Trump added.

Putin earlier had described the call with Trump as "frank" and "very useful," and said the two agreed that Russia would work on a memorandum with Ukraine for a possible 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 offered no details of the conditions that would need to be satisfied for a settlement or a timeline of any ceasefire with Ukraine in comments late Monday to reporters in the Russian resort city of Sochi where he took the call with Trump.

"The main thing for us is to eliminate the root causes of this crisis," Putin said. The resumption of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine last week in Istanbul after a break of three years showed that the peace process was "on the right track," he said.

This was the third publicly announced call between the two leaders since Trump returned to the White House 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.