President Donald Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone for two hours Monday, with Trump writing on social media that “the tone and spirit of the conversation were excellent.” Trump further said that as a result of the call “Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War.”
The call follows shortly after the first round of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in years were held in Istanbul last week. Trump had publicly called on Putin and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenksy to attend the talks, a challenge Zelensky accepted and Putin declined. The brief meeting by the countries’ diplomats produced a prisoner exchange but no ceasefire or peace agreement.
In Russia, Putin told reporters who asked about the call with Trump that the conversation was “very informative and very frank” but repeated his assertion that “the main thing for us is to eliminate the root causes of this crisis.”
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