Trump and Putin spoke for two hours on Monday evening.

"I believe it went very well," Trump posted on X. "Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War," he wrote.

He added that the conditions would be negotiated between the two parties.

Trump also highlighted that "Russia wants to do largescale TRADE with the United States when this catastrophic "bloodbath" is over, and I agree."

"There is a tremendous opportunity for Russia to create massive amounts of jobs and wealth. Its potential is UNLIMITED," Trump wrote.

"Likewise, Ukraine can be a great beneficiary on Trade, in the process of rebuilding its country," he added.

Putin's reaction, on the other hand, was much more sober. He called the talks "frank, informative and very useful."

He said that Russia too was in favor of a peaceful solution and he was prepared to work with Ukraine on a "memorandum" on a possible future peace accord.

However, Putin did not elaborate on what such a memorandum could look like.

"In terms of tone and content, these two reactions differed radically from one another," Alexandra Filippenko, an independent political analyst........

© Deutsche Welle