President Donald Trump of the United States on Friday said there is a very good chance that the war between Russia and Ukraine could end after productive discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

​Trump stated this in a post on his Truth Social, adding that he had requested that Putin spare the lives of completely surrounded Ukrainian troops.

“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.

The Truth Social post did not say whether Trump and Putin had spoken to each other.

However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had used the meeting to convey to Trump through Witkoff.

Peskov added that 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 to a swift ceasefire to pause fighting in a conflict which he has warned has the potential to spiral into World War Three and has already cost many lives on both sides.

US had productive discussions with Putin, war in Ukraine could end – Trump