Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump says ceasefire talks will begin immediately after ‘excellent’ call with Putin

Russia has outlawed Amnesty International, designating it an “undesirable organisation” and criminalising involvement with the human rights group in the country.

This move, announced Monday by the Russian Prosecutor General’s office, further intensifies the Kremlin’s crackdown on dissent, which has escalated dramatically since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The ban effectively shuts down Amnesty’s operations within Russia and threatens anyone cooperating with or supporting the organisation with prosecution.

Our reporter Albert Toth has the full story:

European and US leaders have welcomed Pope Leo XIV’s offer to host Russia-Ukraine talks at the Vatican,

Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni said on Monday that European leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, spoke to US President Donald Trump after he had a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Work is underway to immediately start negotiations between the parties that can lead to a ceasefire as soon as possible and build the conditions for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine,” Meloni’s office said in a statement.

“In this regard, the Holy Father’s willingness to host the talks at the Vatican was considered positive. Italy is ready to do its part to facilitate contacts and work for peace,” the statement added.

The Kremlin has said Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump discussed a new prisoner swap during their 2-hour phone call on Monday.

Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said the two countries were working out details of an exchange of prisoners jailed in Russia and the United States involving nine people on each side, although he did not say when it might take place.

Trump and Putin are both in favour of meeting in person and will assign their teams to work on preparing a meeting, Ushakov said, but no venue has been agreed.

Leaders from Ukraine, Russia, the US, EU and Britain could meet in an effort to secure a peace deal, Zelensky has said.

Speaking to reporters in Kyiv after holding two phone calls with Donald Trump on Monday, Zelensky said he hoped the meeting could happen as soon as possible and that it could be hosted by Turkey, the Vatican or Switzerland.

After his phone call with Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump spoke with a number of European leaders to inform them about the discussion.

EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said they had a “good call” and thanked Trump for “his tireless efforts to bring a ceasefire to Ukraine.”

Donald Trump has spoken about the possibility of a trade deal between the US and Russia after the war with Ukraine is over.

Trump and Vladimir Putin discussed trade during their “excellent” two-hour phone call on Monday.

“Russia wants to do largescale TRADE with the United States when this catastrophic “bloodbath” is over, and I agree,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social after the call.

“There is a tremendous opportunity for Russia to create massive amounts of jobs and wealth. Its potential is UNLIMITED. Likewise, Ukraine can be a great beneficiary on Trade, in the process of rebuilding its Country.”

The US banned imports of Russian oil, gas and coal after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Donald Trump has said that ceasefire negotiations could be held by the Vatican.

In a social media post after his two-hour phone call with Vladimir Putin, Trump said: “The Vatican, as represented by the Pope, has stated that it would be very interested in hosting the negotiations. Let the process begin!”

US vice president JD Vance met with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican earlier today, amid a flurry of US-led diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire in Ukraine.

Donald Trump has said Russia and Ukraine will “immediately” begin ceasefire negotiations after his two-hour phone call with Vladimir Putin went “very well”.

He said: “Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War.

“The conditions for that will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be, because they know details of a negotiation that nobody else would be aware of.”

Trump added that he had informed several world leaders including Volodymyr Zelensky, Emmanuel Macron and Giorgia Meloni in a call after he spoke with Putin.

Moscow has also said that Putin was now ready to work towards peace and on a memorandum about future peace talks.