Trump holds calls with Putin and Zelenskyy, pledges to start Ukraine peace talks

The Kremlin said Putin and Trump had agreed to meet, and Putin had invited Trump to visit Moscow

The Kremlin said Putin and Trump had spoken for nearly an hour and a half by telephone and that the two men had agreed to meet. Picture: AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

Donald Trump discussed the war in Ukraine on Wednesday in phone calls with Russian president Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the new US president's first big step towards diplomacy over a war he has promised to end.

In a post on his social media platform after speaking to Putin, Trump said they had "agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately," and that he would begin by phoning Zelenskyy.