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MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday after speaking with Donald Trump that Moscow will propose a "memorandum" that it will be willing to work with Kyiv on outlining positions for a possible peace agreement.

"Russia will propose and will be ready to work with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum on a possible future peace agreement defining a range of positions," Putin told Russian media after a call with Trump.

He added that the document could outline "the principles of settlement, the timing of a possible peace agreement and so on -- including a possible ceasefire for a certain period of time if appropriate agreements are reached".

Putin said direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul last week put all sides on the "right path" towards ending the conflict in Ukraine, and calling on all sides to make "compromises".

"Contact between participants of the meeting and negotiations in Istanbul -- this contact was restarted and it gives us the basis to think that on the whole we are on the right path," Putin told Russian media after speaking to US leader Donald Trump, adding that both Moscow and Kyiv should show "maximum" effort to find "compromises that would suit all sides".

Trump on Monday said Russia and Ukraine would begin negotiations towards a ceasefire "immediately," after he held a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the grinding conflict. 

"Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform after the call, adding that the "tone and spirit of the conversation were excellent."

Delegations from Russia and Ukraine held direct negotiations in Istanbul last week for the first time in almost three years, but the talks ended without a commitment to a ceasefire.

After the negotiations, Trump announced that he would speak by phone with the Russian president in a bid to end the "bloodbath" in Ukraine, which has destroyed large swathes of the country and displaced millions of people.

Trump also said he would speak to Ukrainian president VolodymyrZelensky and NATO officials, expressing hope that a "ceasefire will take place, and this very violent war... will end".

Since taking office in January, Trump has repeatedly stressed that he wants to see an end to the conflict, and has recently backed calls for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire.

Both Moscow and Washington have previously stressed the need for a meeting on the conflict between Putin and Trump.

The US president has also argued that "nothing's going to happen" on the conflict until he meets Putin face-to-face.

At the talks in Istanbul, which were also attended by US officials, Russia and Ukraine agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners each and trade ideas on a possible truce, but with no concrete commitment.

Ukraine's top negotiator, Defence Minister RustemUmerov, said that the "next step" would be a meeting between Putin and Zelensky.

Russia said it had taken note of the request.

"We consider it possible, but only as a result of the work and upon achieving certain results in the form of an agreement between the two sides," the Kremlin's spokesperson said.

VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV set the tone for his papacy with a call to stop exploiting nature and marginalising the poor at his inaugural mass Sunday attended by dignitaries including Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and US Vice President JD Vance.

Ten days after he became the first US head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, some 200,000 people gathered to see his inaugural mass in St Peter's Square, according to the Vatican.

Before it started, the Chicago-born Robert Francis Prevost delighted the crowds by taking to the popemobile for the first time, smiling, waving and blessing those he passed.

In his homily, the soft-spoken 69-year-old returned to the themes of peace, reconciliation and social justice that have marked his first few days as pope.

"In this our time, we still see too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference, and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth's resources and marginalises the poorest," he said.

In a prayer afterwards, he noted the ongoing efforts to end the war in Ukraine, before holding a private audience with Zelensky and his wife.

"The martyred Ukraine is waiting for negotiations for a just and lasting peace to finally happen," Leo said.

After two decades spent as missionary in Peru, the new pope -- who was only made a cardinal in 2023 -- is unknown to many Catholics.

But many of those gathered in St Peter's Square said they liked what they had heard so far.

Maria Grazia La Barbera, 56, a pilgrim from Palermo in Sicily, said Leo was "the right person at the right time" to lead the Church.

"He will certainly do what he promised: knocking down walls and building bridges," she said.

Vance 'very proud'

Leo's elevation has sparked huge enthusiasm in the United States, which was represented on Sunday by Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019.

Vance met with the late Pope Francis the day before he died last month, and queued up to shake Leo's hand on Sunday along with the other dignitaries.

Before becoming pope, Leo reposted on his personal X account criticism of US President Donald Trump's administration over its approach to migration and also pilloried Vance.

But Vance insisted Sunday that the United States was "very proud of him".

"Certainly our prayers go with him as he starts this very important work," Vance said at a meeting with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

There is some consternation outside the United States that a country with an already outsized political and military role in the world now boasts one its foremost spiritual leaders.

"There is going to be extra weight because he is American," said Sophia Tripp, a 20-year-old student visiting from Leo's hometown of Chicago.

"I think there's going to be a lot of extra eyes, and maybe criticisms."

She hoped he would "bring people together", she said. "We are all human, and we should just all be loving to one another."

 'Fear and trembling'

Security was tight for the event, which included politicians from Germany to Peru -- where the pope holds citizenship -- the Gulf and Canada, as well as faith leaders and European royals.

Also lining up to greet the new pontiff inside St Peter's Basilica after the mass was Leo's older brother Louis, and the two men shared a hug.

Succeeding the charismatic but impulsive Francis, Leo took over a Church still battling the fallout of the clerical child abuse scandal, and trying to adapt to the modern world.

He acknowledged on Sunday some trepidation in his new role.

"I was chosen, without any merit of my own, and now, with fear and trembling, I come to you as a brother who desires to be the servant of your faith and your joy," he said.

In his homily he warned against "closing ourselves off in our small groups".

"We are called to offer God's love to everyone, in order to achieve that unity which does not cancel out differences but values the personal history of each person and the social and religious culture of every people," he said.

At the mass, Leo received the pontifical emblems -- the pallium, a strip of cloth worn around the neck, and the fisherman's ring, which is forged anew for each pope.

He will wear the ring on his finger until he dies, when it will be destroyed.

ROME — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with US Vice President JD Vance on Sunday, for the first time since the disastrous shouting match in the White House in February, as Russia launched a "record" drone barrage on Kyiv, after talks with Moscow which did not yield a ceasefire.

"We discussed the talks in Istanbul, where the Russians sent a low-level delegation with no decision-making powers," Zelensky wrote on Telegram following the meeting with Vance.

That took place at the US ambassador's residence in Rome -- the Villa Taverna -- after the two of them attended Pope Leo's inaugural mass in the Vatican.

"We also touched on the need for sanctions against Russia, bilateral trade, defence cooperation, the situation on the battlefield and the future exchange of prisoners," Zelensky added.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Zelensky's aide Andriy Yermak were also present at the meeting, where the two sides discussed steps towards a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.

A senior Ukrainian official from the president's office, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP that Zelensky and Vance also discussed preparations for Monday's telephone conversation between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The official said that the encounter went "better" than the Oval Office row three months ago, when Vance publically accused Zelensky of being "disrespectful" towards Trump, who fuelled the row by telling the Ukrainian leader he should be more "thankful" and that he had no "cards" to play in negotiations with Russia

Zelensky and his wife Olena Zelenska were earlier granted an audience with Leo following his inauguration.

 'Record' drone barrage

Ukraine on Sunday said that Russia had launched a record number of drones at the country overnight, targeting various regions, including that of the capital Kyiv, where a woman was killed. Another man was killed in the southeastern Kherson region.

The attacks came only two days after the first direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in more than three years, which failed to produce a truce.

Putin said in an interview released on Sunday that his focus was on eradicating what he called the root causes of the Ukraine conflict and guaranteeing Russia's security.

The Ukrainian air force said that Russia had launched "273 Shahed attack drones and various types of imitator drones", of which 88 were destroyed and 128 more went astray "without negative consequences".

Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said it was a "record" number of drones. "Russia has a clear goal -- to continue killing civilians," she said.

The Russian military said it had intercepted 25 Ukrainian drones overnight and on Sunday morning. Moscow also claimed it had captured Bahatyr, another village in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, as it intensifies the war effort despite the Istanbul peace talks.

'Root causes'

In his interview with Russian state TV, Putin said Moscow's aim was to "eliminate the causes that triggered this crisis, create the conditions for a lasting peace and guarantee Russia's security", without elaborating further.

Russia's references to the "root causes" of the conflict typically refer to alleged grievances with Kyiv and the West that Moscow has put forward as justification for launching the invasion in February 2022.

They include pledges to "de-Nazify" and demilitarise Ukraine, protect Russian speakers in the country's east, push back against NATO expansion and stop Ukraine's westward geopolitical drift.

Kyiv and the West say that Russia's invasion is nothing more than an imperial-style land grab.

Tens of thousands have been killed since Russia started the war, with millions forced to flee their homes.

Friday's talks in Turkey led to an agreement to exchange 1,000 prisoners each.

Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social on Saturday that he would speak by phone with Putin on Monday in order to stop the "BLOODBATH" in Ukraine.

KYIV, UKRAINE — Ukraine said Sunday that Russia had launched a record number of drones at the country overnight, targeting various regions, including that of the capital Kyiv, where a woman was killed.

The attacks came two days after the first direct peace talks between officials from Russia and Ukraine in more than three years, which failed to produce a truce.

In his first remarks since the talks, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sunday that his focus was on eradicating what he called the causes of the Ukraine conflict and guaranteeing Russia's security.

The Ukrainian air force said Russia had launched "273 Shahed attack drones and various types of imitator drones", of which 88 were destroyed and 128 more went astray "without negative consequences".

Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said it was a "record" number of drones. "Russia has a clear goal, to continue killing civilians," she said.

The Russian military said it had intercepted 25 Ukrainian drones overnight and on Sunday morning.

In his interview with Russian state TV, Putin said Moscow's aim was to "eliminate the causes that triggered this crisis, create the conditions for a lasting peace and guarantee Russia's security".

He said the Russian army, which occupies around 20 per cent of Ukraine, had the "troops and means required" to achieve this goal.

Friday's talks in Turkey, the first direct Ukraine-Russia encounter since shortly after Russia invaded in February 2022, led to an agreement to exchange 1,000 prisoners each.

Ukraine's top negotiator, Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, said the "next step" would be a meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Russia said it had taken note of the request.

But the Kremlin said the POW swap had to be completed and both sides needed to present their visions for a ceasefire before the next round of negotiations could be arranged.

US President Donald Trump, who claimed during his campaign for re-election last year that he could end the war in days -- said Saturday that he would speak by phone to Putin on Monday.

Russia's overnight drone attacks were roundly condemned by Ukrainian officials.

"For Russia, the negotiations in Istanbul are just pretence. Putin wants war," said Zelensky's top aide, Andriy Yermak.

LONDON, UNITED STATES — Severe storms that tore through the US states of Missouri, Kentucky and Virginia left more than 25 people dead, leveling homes and businesses while knocking out power for tens of thousands, authorities say.

At least 18 people were killed in Kentucky in the storms Friday night, state governor Andy Beshear posted on X, while officials in Missouri said another seven were dead there.

Two people were also killed by falling trees in Virginia, local media reported.

Jamie Burns, 38, who lives with her husband and son in a trailer home in the town of London, Kentucky, fled to the basement of her sister's brick house while the storm destroyed 100 to 200 houses in the area.

"Things that have been here longer than I have, things that have been here for 30-plus years are just flat," Burns told AFP in a phone interview, her voice quavering.

"It's wild, because you'll look at one area and it's just smashed... totally flattened, like, not there anymore."

Drone footage shared by local media showed scenes of devastation in London, with houses leveled and reduced to splinters and tree trunks standing bare, shorn of branches.

More than 108,000 people were still without power across the three states late Saturday.

Eastern Kentucky, an area historically known for its coal mines, is one of the poorest regions in the country.

"A lot of us live in manufactured homes that aren't safe for tornado weather," said Burns.

 'One of the worst storms'

In Missouri, five people were killed in the major city of St. Louis, in what authorities said was one of the worst storms in its history, and two in Scott County, the State Highway Patrol said in a statement to AFP.

More severe weather was forecast for Sunday night and Monday.

Asked Saturday by a reporter whether it was the worst storm ever to hit St. Louis, Mayor Cara Spencer replied: "I would describe this as one of the worst storms,  absolutely. The devastation is truly heartbreaking."

She said 38 people in the city were injured and some 5,000 buildings damaged.

In one St. Louis neighborhood, a church was heavily damaged, according to CBS footage, and rescue workers continued to treat victims near the building Saturday morning.

"It's horrific for a tornado to come through here and cause this much damage to the residents and also to the church," Derrick Perkins, a pastor at the Centennial Christian Church, told CBS. "Our hearts are broken."

Bruce Madison, who also works at the church, said the community was coming together in the face of the tragedy.

"Right now, we're just praying for... everybody that they're trying to find right now."

While there were warnings ahead of the severe weather, Beshear had protectively declared a state of emergency Friday, the death toll may raise questions about whether sharp cuts by the Trump administration have left National Weather Service forecasting teams dangerously understaffed.

An estimated 500 of the 4,200 NWS employees have been fired or taken early retirement this year, according to the Washington Post.

The United States saw the second-highest number of tornadoes on record last year with nearly 1,800, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA], trailing only 2004.