Kremlin Says No Deadline For Ukrainian Memorandums

JAKARTA - The Kremlin says President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump have not discussed a schedule for a Russian-Ukraine ceasefire, there is no deadline for a memorandum of peace.

The two heads of state discussed what the US Leaders called "expressing" prospects for relations between their two countries in a phone call on Monday, the Kremlin said, adding the two sides were working on a new exchange of prisoners.

President Putin said after a phone call Russia would work with Ukraine to create a memorandum of understanding about the peace agreement in the future.

Meanwhile, President Trump said Russia and Ukraine would soon start negotiations towards a ceasefire.

In a press statement after a phone call, President Putin said Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov and spokesman Dmitry Peskov would provide further information if needed, citing the Kremlin website May 20.

Ushakov in turn said the two leaders had not yet discussed the ceasefire schedule in Ukraine, but President Trump had stressed his interest in reaching the deal quickly.

"The president also spoke in detail about the future of our relationship, and President Trump, I can say, spoke quite emotionally about the prospects for this relationship," Ushakov said.

"He specifically emphasized that the prospect of bilateral relations after the Ukraine conflict was resolved seemed impressive, and that as president of the United States, he sees Russia as one of America's most important partners in trade and economic matters," he continued.

Ushakov said the two countries were drafting details of a prisoner swap imprisoned in Russia and the United States involving nine people on each side, although he did not say when it would happen.

President Trump and President Putin both support the live meeting and will assign their teams to work on preparing for the meeting, Ushakov said, but no place has been agreed.

Meanwhile, Peskov said the process for Moscow and Kiev to develop the integrated text of the memorandum of peace and a ceasefire would be complicated, there would be no definite time limit, the Russian news agency reported.

"There is no time limit and there will be none. Obviously everyone wants to do this as quickly as possible, but, of course, the point of the problem lies in the details," the state news agency RIA quoted Peskov as saying.

"The draft will be formulated by Russia and Ukraine, this draft document will be exchanged, and then a complicated contact to develop one text," he added.