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Earlier, Putin had seemed to dismiss the possibility of a ceasefire or any direct negotiations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“It was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate Peace,” said Trump in a social media post.
“President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields.”
The US leader added that during his call with Putin, whose forces invaded Ukraine in 2022, launching a grinding war, they had “discussed the attack on Russia’s docked airplanes” as well as other attacks “by both sides.”
The Kremlin described the call, which also focused on negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, as “positive” and “productive.”
The US president has, however, also shown growing frustration with Putin — last week calling him “crazy” — as Russia has continued attacks and derailed Trump’s campaign pledge to end the war within 24 hours.
Putin’s call with Trump appeared to be part of a diplomatic offensive by the Russian leader, who discussed the Ukraine war with Pope Leo XIV in a telephone conversation on Wednesday.
The Kremlin stated that Putin told the US-born pope he was seeking peace through diplomacy but added that “the regime in Kyiv is focusing on escalating the conflict and conducting sabotage against civilian infrastructure within Russian territory”.
Putin earlier accused Ukraine of being behind “terrorist” attacks on bridges in its border regions over the weekend, including one that caused a train to derail, killing seven people.
He said any full ceasefire would just give Ukraine a chance to rearm.
“Why should they be rewarded with a pause in combat, which will only be exploited to arm the regime further with Western weapons, to bolster their forced mobilization, and to plan various terrorist activities?” Putin remarked during a televised government meeting.
Ukraine has been pushing for an unconditional and immediate 30-day truce, issuing its latest proposal to Moscow at peace talks in Istanbul on Monday.
Zelenskyy said earlier on Wednesday that Russia had handed Ukraine an “ultimatum” and recycled old demands in Türkiye, where the only concrete agreement was on a series of large-scale prisoner exchanges.
Russia’s demands included Ukraine fully pulling out of four regions — Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia — that Russia claims to have annexed but does not have full control over.
