(Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump discussed the idea of “raising the level of representatives” at Ukraine talks in a 40-minute call following the U.S. leader’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.
“The idea was discussed that it would be worthwhile to explore the possibility of raising the level of representatives from the Ukrainian and Russian sides—that is, those representatives participating in the mentioned direct negotiations,” Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said in audio remarks posted on the Kremlin’s Telegram channel.
Trump held a Monday meeting in Washington with Zelenskiy and other European partners. The U.S. president said it was “very good” and that he had begun arrangements for a meeting between Putin and Zelenskiy after a subsequent call with Putin.
Ushakov in his remarks did not specify what he meant by raising the level at meetings, and did not directly address the possibility of a trilateral meeting between the leaders.
“Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump agreed to maintain close contact with each other on the Ukrainian issue and other pressing topics on the international and bilateral agenda,” Ushakov said.
“The conversation was frank and highly constructive in nature.”
Trump told Zelenskiy on Monday that the United States would help guarantee Ukraine’s security in any deal to end Russia’s war, though the extent of any promised assistance was not immediately clear.
(Reporting by Reuters in Moscow and Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Writing by Lidia Kelly;Editing by Chris Reese and Rosalba O’Brien)
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