President Trump said he had “a very good telephone call” on Wednesday with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine as he tried to broker a cease-fire between Ukraine and Russia. It was the first time Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelensky have spoken since a disastrous Oval Office meeting last month.
In a social media post, Mr. Trump said the call lasted about an hour and that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Michael Waltz, the national security adviser, would soon give a more complete picture of what was discussed.
But his initial tone was notably positive and lacked the sharp criticisms he has levied against the Ukrainian leader in recent weeks, including during their Oval Office confrontation.
Mr. Trump spoke with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia a day earlier.
“Much of the discussion was based on the call made yesterday with President Putin in order to align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and needs,” Mr. Trump wrote in his post Wednesday. “We are very much on track.”
Mr. Zelensky had said before the call that he expected Mr. Trump to brief him on the conversation with Mr. Putin, in which the Russian leader agreed to halt attacks on energy infrastructure, as long as Ukraine did the same.
That fell far short of a 30-day unconditional truce that Kyiv had agreed to at Washington’s urging, and amounted to the latest frustration for Mr. Trump’s effort to broker a settlement of the conflict and open a new phase in U.S.-Russia relations.