WASHINGTON (Kyodo) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said he will speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday morning, expressing hope about brokering a cease-fire deal between Russia and Ukraine.

Trump told reporters on Monday that "what's happening in Ukraine is not good, but we're going to see if we can work a peace agreement, a cease-fire and peace, and I think we'll be able to do it."

Trump and his officials have been trying to persuade Putin to accept an immediate 30-day cease-fire with Ukraine.

Ukraine said last week that it was ready to accept the Trump administration's proposal.

Trump said Ukraine is "doing the right thing right now," although he added it was not easy until recently, a reference to his tense meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in late February.

In front of reporters and cameras in the Oval Office, Trump and Zelenskyy clashed over whether Putin could be trusted, leading the United States to suspend its provision of military aid and intelligence to Ukraine.

The United States lifted the suspension in exchange for Ukraine's readiness to accept the proposed cease-fire following hours of talks between senior officials of the two countries in Saudi Arabia last Tuesday.

During the upcoming call with Putin, Trump will discuss the issue of a "power plant," White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told a press briefing Monday, apparently referring to the Zaporizhzhia facility, the largest nuclear plant in Europe that was seized by Russia after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine commenced in February 2022.