US President has said, after a more-than-two-hour call with Russian President, that Moscow and Kyiv “will immediately start negotiations” toward a ceasefire and an end to their war, now in its fourth bloody year, writes Al Jazeera.

“Vladimir Putin said that efforts to end the conflict seemed “on the right track” and that Moscow was ready to work with Ukraine on a memorandum about a future peace accord. He thanked Donald Trump for supporting the resumption of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine, and said that Trump noted Russia’s support for peace, though the key question was how to move towards peace.

“We have agreed with the president of the United States that Russia will propose and is ready to work with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum on a possible future peace accord, defining a number of positions, such as, for example, the principles of settlement, [and] the timing of a possible peace agreement. If appropriate agreements are reached, then there could be a ceasefire… Direct talks between Russia and Ukraine give reason to believe that we are generally on the right track. I would like to note that, on the whole, Russia’s position is clear. The main thing for us is to eliminate the root causes of this crisis. We just need to determine the most effective ways to move towards peace”, - said Putin.

Comments released by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov early Tuesday, quoted by Russia’s state news agencies, suggested no urgency from Moscow’s side to next steps: “There are no deadlines and there cannot be any. It is clear that everyone wants to do this as quickly as possible, but, of course, the devil is in the details”.

For his part, Trump said the call went very well. In a post on Truth Social, he said that the Vatican, “as represented by the Pope, has stated that it would be very interested in hosting the negotiations. Let the process begin!” Later on Monday, Trump said “it would be great” to hold ceasefire talks at the Vatican as it would add extra significance to the proceedings.

Describing his phone call with Putin, Trump said he told him: “When are we going to end this, Vladimir?” He added that there could be a time when sanctions are imposed on Russia, without providing more details”.