Trump says Putin phone call 'positive' on Ukraine

Ukraine has been rejecting a Russian demand to give up territory

US President Donald Trump said Monday he had an upbeat conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on ending the four-year-old war in Ukraine.

"We were talking about Ukraine, which is just a never-ending fight," Trump told reporters. "But I think it was a positive call on that subject."

He did not give further details.

The United States has been pushing for an end to the four-year war, which has killed tens of thousands and destroyed much of eastern and southern Ukraine, but Moscow and Kyiv remain at odds over who gets what land in a post-war settlement.

Russia is pushing for full control of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region as part of any deal, and has threatened to take it by force if Kyiv does not cave at the negotiating table. But Ukraine has rejected this demand, which is politically and militarily fraught, and signalled it will not sign a deal without security guarantees that deter Russia from invading again.

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