MOSCOW: 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.