Moscow, 19 May 2025 (dpa/MIA) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has described his third telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump, held on Monday, as substantive and useful.

The conversation lasted more than two hours, Putin told Russian state media in Sochi.

Russia is prepared to work on a memorandum with Ukraine that would include a ceasefire, Putin said.

He emphasized that Russia wants to end the fighting but that the most effective path to peace must be found, and that both sides must make compromises. Putin did not say what these compromises should be.

"First of all, I thanked the President of the United States for the US support for the resumption of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine on a possible peace agreement," Putin said. Ukrainian and Russian delegations met last week in Istanbul for the first time since 2022.

Trump is pushing for an end to Russia's war in Ukraine and had spoken to Putin twice on the phone since taking office in January - once in mid-February and again in mid-March.

His contact with the Russian president follows a long period of radio silence between Washington and Moscow under former US president Joe Biden.

Photo: MIA archive