Kremlin: Putin, Zelensky to meet after deal

MOSCOW/KYIV — The Kremlin said on Saturday a meeting between Russia's Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky would be possible only after both sides reach an agreement, a day after the first direct talks between the two countries in more than three years.

US President Donald Trump said later in the day that he would speak to the presidents of Russia and Ukraine on Monday following talks between the two sides.

Trump, writing on Truth Social, said he would speak with Putin to discuss stopping the conflict at 10 am Eastern time on Monday.

Afterward, he said he would speak with Zelensky and various members of NATO.

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies preparations were underway for a conversation between Putin and Trump.

On Friday, the first direct talks since the conflict began in February 2022, between Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul resulted in a concrete agreement to exchange 1,000 prisoners each.

Ukraine's top negotiator, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, said the "next step" would be a meeting between Zelensky and Putin.

Russia said it took note of the request. "We consider it possible, but only as a result of the work and upon achieving certain results in the form of an agreement between the two sides," the Kremlin said.

Russia's top negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky said that Moscow and Kyiv would "present their vision of a possible future ceasefire", without saying when.

The Kremlin said that first the swap of prisoners of war had to be completed and both sides needed to present their visions for a ceasefire before fixing the next round of talks.

"For now, we need to do what the delegations agreed on yesterday "in Turkiye, Peskov said, which meant "first and foremost to complete a 1,000 for 1,000 swap".

The head of Ukraine's military intelligence, Kirillo Budanov, told broadcaster TSN he hoped the exchange would happen this week.

Both Moscow and Washington have already talked about the need for a meeting on the conflict between Putin and Trump.

Trump has argued that "nothing's going to happen" on the conflict until he meets Putin face-toface.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke by telephone with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and said he welcomed the "positive role" of the United States in helping to secure a resumption of talks between Russia and Ukraine. A Russian foreign ministry statement quoted Lavrov as saying contacts would continue.

In an interview with CBS, Rubio said Lavrov had told him Moscow was preparing a document outlining its requirements for a ceasefire.

If Russia and Moscow can both provide "serious and viable" proposals "then there's been real progress, and we can work off of that," Rubio said.

On the front battle lines, the Russian army said its troops captured Oleksandropil village in the Donetsk region, the site of some of the most intense fighting in the conflict.

Ukraine's air force said on Sunday that Russia fired a total of 273 exploding drones and decoys. Of those, 88 were intercepted and a further 128 lost, likely having been electronically jammed. The attacks targeted Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions.

Yuriy Ihnat, head of the Communications Department of the Ukrainian Air Force, told The Associated Press that the barrage was the biggest drone attack since the start of the conflict.

Russia's previous largest known single drone attack was on the eve of the conflict's third anniversary, when Russia pounded Ukraine with 267 drones, AP reported.

Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down seven Ukrainian drones overnight, and a further 18 on Sunday morning.

Agencies via Xinhua