U.S. President Donald Trump said negotiators are "right now" heading to Russia for talks on a possible ceasefire with Ukraine.

The comments came after Kiev agreed to a 30-day ceasefire, AFP reports.

"People are going to Russia right now as we speak. And hopefully we can get a ceasefire from Russia. And if we do, I think that will be 80 percent of the way to ending this horrible bloodbath," Trump said in the Oval Office during a meeting with Ireland's prime minister.

Vice President J.D. Vance also attended the meeting. He indicated that there are "conversations taking place by phone and in person with some of our representatives over the next few days."

Trump did not say when he would hold his next call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, but stressed that "hopefully there will be a ceasefire" and that there had been "positive messages" from Moscow.

"Now everything depends on Russia," he pointed out.

The US president was evasive about pressuring Moscow to agree to a ceasefire. He said he could impose "devastating" sanctions on it, but added that "I hope that won't be necessary."

"I can do things financially that would be very bad for Russia. I don't want to do that because I want to make peace," Trump noted.

His comments come less than two weeks after an explosive altercation between Trump, Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office in front of television cameras.

The US president suspended military aid after the dispute to pressure Kiev. Ukraine agreed to the US-proposed 30-day ceasefire plan at talks in Saudi Arabia on March 11. | BGNES