For months, Ukraine and its allies tried to convince the Trump administration that Putin acts in bad faith, and have said Russia`s agreeing to a ceasefire could function as a test of whether it is serious about achieving the peace the US president has long demanded, writes CNN.

In urging Zelensky meet Putin, Trump dropped his demand for Russia to agree to a ceasefire, marking a dramatic change in approach.

On Monday, the Kremlin said Putin was serious about trying to find peace through talks, but the spokesperson said he could not say more, according to Reuters news agency.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke by telephone with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan about Putin`s proposed talks with Ukraine, but a brief Russian foreign ministry account gave no indication whether Putin would attend, according to Reuters.

Zelensky said Monday that Moscow had been "silent" regarding Putin`s proposal to meet.

"Ukraine always supports diplomacy. I am ready to be in Turkey. Unfortunately, the world still has not received a clear answer from Russia regarding numerous proposals for a ceasefire", Zelensky said in his evening address.

Zelensky said he had spoken to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who "expressed full readiness to host the meeting". The Kremlin said Putin spoke with Erdogan on Sunday, who "fully supported" Putin`s proposal for peace talks and had offered Istanbul as a venue.

"A new window of opportunity has opened with the recent contacts. We hope that this opportunity will not be wasted", Erdogan said Monday, following his call with Zelensky.

The Trump administration has been growing increasingly frustrated that efforts to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine have so far fallen short. Last month, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that if there was no progress on Ukraine, the US would "need to move on".