'I have strongly requested President Putin to spare lives of Ukrainian soldiers': Donald Trump

"We had very good and productive discussions with President Vladimir Putin of Russia yesterday, and there is a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end," Trump said in a Truth Social post.

He had even "strongly" requested that Putin spare the lives of "completely surrounded" Ukrainian troops.

US envoy Steve Witkoff held a long meeting with Putin in Moscow on Thursday night, Reuters reported quoting sources.

Trump did not mention if he had spoken to Putin.

However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had sent his "signals" to Trump through Witkoff.

He said Russia and the US would work out the timing of a phone call between their presidents once Witkoff had briefed Trump.

The US president has said he wants Moscow and Kyiv to agree on a swift ceasefire to stop fighting in a conflict which he has warned has the potential to spiral into World War Three.

President Vladimir Putin has expressed support for a U.S. ceasefire proposal to halt Russia’s war with Ukraine for 30 days, but he stressed that many details would have to be worked out and that any truce should pave the way to lasting peace.

“We agree with the proposals to halt the fighting, but we proceed from the assumption that the ceasefire should lead to lasting peace and remove the root causes of the crisis,” Putin told reporters Thursday in Moscow. He went on to list several issues he said needed clarifying.