(WASHINGTON) -- President Donald Trump, on the 2024 campaign trail, repeatedly promised voters he personally could end the Russia-Ukraine war on his first day in office -- or even before.
But four months into his term, peace not only remains elusive but he's saying he could soon "back away" from being involved.
His comment came hours after his highly-anticipated phone call Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin produced no breakthrough -- even though Trump had earlier suggested it could.
Just last week, after Putin snubbed an invitation from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to attend peace negotiations in Istanbul -- something Trump had encouraged -- he told reporters: "Nothing's going to happen until Putin and I get together, OK?"
"I don't believe anything's going to happen, whether you like it or not, until he and I get together, but we're going to have to get it solved, because too many people are dying," Trump said.
After his hourslong conversation with Putin on Monday, though, Trump said that conditions for a ceasefire and an ultimate end to the conflict "will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be."
Direct talks between just Ukraine and Russia, Trump said, would begin "immediately" and possibly be hosted by the Vatican. The two sides already began engaging in Turkey last week in what was the first known meeting between representatives of Moscow and Kyiv since spring 2022.
Trump had also previously pushed for an "immediate ceasefire" between Russia and Ukraine, but that was not pushed further in his public comments following his Putin call.
Still, Trump sought to put an optimistic spin on Monday's talks.
"I think something's going to happen," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "It's got very, very big egos involved, I tell you, big egos involved. But I think something's going to happen."
"And if it doesn't, I just back away and they're going to have to keep going again," Trump said. "This is a European situation. It should have remained a European situation."
He did not answer whether he would be meeting with Putin -- something he had suggested was likely in the not too distant future.
Trump and various top administration officials had said Trump's personal history with Putin and strongman persona would get results.
In his debate against then-Vice President Kamala Harris in September, Trump said he'd get the Russia-Ukraine war ended "before even becoming president" because Putin and Zelenskyy "respect me."
During an exclusive interview with ABC News on the 100-day mark of his term, Trump posited that, "If it weren't for me, I think [Putin would] want to take over the whole country, personally."
Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy, said on ABC's "This Week" this past Sunday that the "president has a force of personality that is unmatched."
"I believe that the president is going to have a successful call with Vladimir Putin," Witkoff said. "They know each other. The president is determined to get something done here. And hopefully, if he can't do it, then nobody can."
Trump said last week he wanted to hold a summit with Putin as soon as possible.
"We have to get together. I think we will probably schedule it. Because I'm tired of having other people go and meet and everything else," Trump told Fox News on May 16. He added, "I think I'm the only one that's going to be able to do that one. And I think we will do it fast, too."
On Monday, Trump said that he'd asked Putin to meet during their phone call, but did not say whether Putin expressed interest in doing so.
"I said, 'When are we going to end this, Vladimir?'" Trump told reporters of their discussion. "I said, 'When are we going to end this bloodshed, this, this bloodbath?' It's a bloodbath. And, I do believe he wants to end it."
Putin, in his own comments to journalists in Sochi after the call, only said he was ready to work on "memorandum on a possible future peace agreement" with Ukraine, but did not elaborate on what that would look like.
Putin showed no signs of making concessions, only saying both sides must "determine the most effective ways of moving towards peace."
Trump and other top officials have said Ukraine will have to forgo NATO membership and likely concede some territory occupied by Russia in order to bring the conflict to an end. They have not made similar public demands of Russia, which started the war when it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago.
Trump, at times, has threatened more sanctions on Moscow. On Monday, he suggested trade with the U.S. after the war is over could be a motivator for pursuing peace.
Meanwhile, Russia only ramped up strikes inside Ukraine overnight following the Trump-Putin call.
In late April, Trump wondered aloud if Putin was "tapping me along" as strikes increased. If so, he said, he'd have to be "dealt with differently." Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, said over the weekend that the U.S. was trying to find out if Russia was "tapping us along" and said "we'll find out pretty soon."
Ukraine's Zelenskyy, who Trump also spoke with on Monday, said the negotiation process "must involve both American and European representatives."
"It is crucial for all of us that the United States does not distance itself from the talks and the pursuit of peace, because the only one who benefits from that is Putin," Zelenskyy said.
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