WASHINGTON —U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Russia and Ukraine will “immediately” begin negotiations toward a ceasefire and eventual end to the war, following a lengthy phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump, who described the two-hour conversation as having gone “very well,” shared the stating that both nations had agreed to begin discussions, with terms to be negotiated directly between Moscow and Kyiv.

“Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a ceasefire and, more importantly, an end to the war,” Trump wrote. “The conditions for that will be negotiated between the two parties… because they know details of a negotiation that nobody else would be aware of.”

Trump also spoke separately with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who confirmed his ongoing call for a “full and unconditional ceasefire” and cautioned against excluding Ukraine from key decisions.

“This is a defining moment,” Zelensky said. “Ukraine must be at the center of any peace negotiations.”

Putin, for his part, expressed readiness to begin work on a “memorandum on a possible future peace agreement,” though he stopped short of endorsing the 30-day unconditional ceasefire urged by the U.S. and European leaders.

Despite the optimism expressed by Trump, no concrete agreement has been reached, and significant gaps remain between Russia’s position and Ukraine’s conditions for peace.

Zelensky emphasized that Kyiv had not yet received details of the proposed “memorandum” from Moscow but said, “Once we have something concrete, we’ll be able to formulate our response accordingly.”

The announcement has reignited global debate on the U.S. role in mediating the war, especially amid concerns in Kyiv that any peace roadmap could be shaped without fully addressing Ukraine’s security needs and territorial integrity.