Russia-Ukraine conflict: Peace on the table? Putin, Zelensky signal willingness to start direct talks after Trump meet

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday they were ready to hold direct talks to end the conflict between the two countries. 

Speaking soon after his meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House, Zelensky said he was willing to meet directly with the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, to end the invasion of his country.

"I confirmed -- and all European leaders supported me -- that we are ready for a bilateral meeting with Putin," Zelensky told Ukrainian media outside the White House.

Zelenskyy said, “We are ready” for any leader-level meetings. He said it’s the only way to solve these “complicated and painful issues.”

Meanwhile, Putin said he was open to the "idea" of direct talks with Ukraine, as he spoke by phone with US counterpart, Donald Trump, on Monday, according to the TASS news agency.

"Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump expressed support for the continuation of direct negotiations between the delegations of Russia and Ukraine," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said, as quoted by TASS.

"In this regard, in particular, the idea was discussed that it would be necessary to study the possibility of raising the level of representatives of the Ukrainian and Russian sides, that is, those representatives who participate in the aforementioned direct negotiations."

Following White House talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky and several European leaders, Trump announced that he called Putin and "began the arrangements" for a meeting between the Ukrainian and Russian leaders.

However, no dates for the meeting have been set up yet. 

The multilateral talks were hastily convened on Monday, following Trump's meeting with Putin in Alaska on 15 August, which excluded other leaders. European political leaders joined the Washington discussions as they pursued means to safeguard Ukraine and the continent from any widening aggression from Moscow.