Trump and Putin held a 'candid and very constructive' conversation, says Kremlin aide

Moscow, Aug 19 (IANS) US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a "candid and very constructive phone call" on Monday, a top Kremlin aide said.

Trump paused a meeting at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders to speak with Putin, sources told CNN.

Putin's foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov said that during the nearly 40-minute call, Trump informed Putin on his talks with the European leaders.

The Russian leader "expressed support for direct negotiations between the delegations of Russia and Ukraine," he said.

The Russian presidential aide noted that the phone conversation had been initiated by Trump, Russian news agency Tass reported.

Following the meeting, Trump said that he had begun arranging a meeting between Putin and Zelensky.

Trump and Putin had "discussed the idea of exploring the possibility of raising the level of representatives of Moscow and Kyiv at the talks," Ushakov said.

He stopped short of confirming whether Putin had agreed to a bilateral or trilateral meeting.

Putin also thanked Trump again for hosting him during his trip to Alaska, Ushakov said.

Putin and Trump in a phone call, agreed to maintain close contact on pressing issues, the Kremlin aide said in a press briefing.

"Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump agreed to maintain close contact on the Ukraine crisis and other pressing issues on the international and bilateral agenda," Ushakov added.

Earlier on Monday, Trump held a meeting at the White House with Zelensky and several European leaders.

The talks involved French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, as well as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

Trump said on Monday that making a peace agreement did not require a ceasefire for Ukraine because hostilities could not prevent the parties from working on a deal.

He also added that security guarantees for Ukraine were discussed at his White House meeting with Zelensky and European leaders.

"During the meeting we discussed security guarantees for Ukraine, which guarantees would be provided by the various European Countries, with a coordination with the United States of America," he wrote on the Truth Social media platform.

"Everyone is very happy about the possibility of peace for Russia/Ukraine," Trump added.

--IANS

int/khz