 Russia's President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump shake hands during a bilateral meeting at the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan, June 28, 2019. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo) |
In a social media post, Trump said he relayed the plan to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as well as the leaders of the European Union, France, Italy, Germany and Finland in a group call following his session with the Russian leader. Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a ceasefire and, more importantly, an end to the conflict, Trump said, adding later at the White House that he thought "some progress is being made."
Meanwhile, Russian state news agencies cited Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov as saying that Moscow and Kyiv faced "complex contacts" to develop a unified text of a peace and ceasefire memorandum.
"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," the RIA agency quoted him as saying.
Ukrainian President Zelenskiy said Kyiv and its partners might seek a high-level meeting among Ukraine, Russia, the United States, European Union countries and Britain as part of a push to end the conflict.