Russians were cautiously upbeat after Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump spoke by phone Wednesday, praising it as a "first step" towards repairing ruptured ties between the two nuclear-armed superpowers.

In the first presidential contact between Moscow and Washington in three years, Trump said the pair agreed to "immediately" kick off talks on ending the Ukraine conflict, a stark contrast to predecessor Joe Biden's policy of isolating the Kremlin.

"This is very important in and of itself," former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on social media platform VKontakte on Thursday.

"The previous US Administration cut off all high-level contacts in an attempt to punish and humiliate Russia. As a result, the world was balancing on the brink of the Apocalypse."

Russian lawmakers expressed hope the talks would lead to a breakthrough in relations, which had been at their lowest point since the Cold War.

The phone call "broke through the West's anti-Russian blockade and launched the process of unfreezing Russian-American official contacts," lawmaker and Russia's former Ukraine negotiator Leonid Slutsky told reporters on Wednesday.

"Now there is hope that, after some time, we will be able to reach a state of normality," Russian senator Andrey Klimov told the Lenta.ru news outlet in an interview late Wednesday.

"It is not yet a breakthrough, but perhaps the first step towards it," fellow Russian senator Alexei Pushkov said on Telegram Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov mocked Western "stupor" over the call.

"When two well-mannered people show how to do politics, I hope it will a little sober up those who have forgotten," he said Thursday.

Hopes for peace

On the streets of Moscow, residents were hopeful the talks could bring peace.

Since the conflict began, Russia has been hit with a raft of Western sanctions that have isolated its economy, while the Kremlin has waged a domestic crackdown on dissent that has seen thousands imprisoned or forced into exile.

"The news, of course, is good, encouraging," 58-year-old maths teacher Nikolai Gridasov told AFP in Moscow.

"We very much hope that it will somehow lead to a peaceful resolution of what is happening now."

Trump has long pushed for a quick end to the nearly three years of fighting, calling it a "ridiculous war" and claiming it would not have happened had he been president in 2022.

"Maybe somehow the American leader will influence this conflict. And then it will be resolved faster than we expect," customs officer Victoria Grisenko, 36, told AFP.

Artur Yevseyev, a Russian army sapper returning from the frontline to recover after a shrapnel wound, said the fighting would end anyway, regardless of negotiations.

"Sooner or later the Ukrainians will surrender," he said.

Moscow has been grinding forward on the battlefield in east Ukraine for over a year, pressing its advantage against overstretched and outmanned Ukrainian soldiers.

No 'gifts' from Trump

Russian military bloggers, who typically back an aggressive offensive, were cautious about the impact of the talks, but noted Trump's approach differed starkly from former US President Joe Biden.

"Don't expect any changes on the ground after this conversation," pro-Kremlin military blogger Rybar said.

"Be that as it may, what happened stands out strongly against the background of events of the past years."

Biden had long argued Ukraine must not be excluded from any talks on settling the conflict and had provided Kyiv with more than $100 billion in financial and military aid.

"As can be seen, this has now been forgotten," Rybar said, but cautioned: "It is rash to count on any gifts from Trump."

Russian military correspondent Alexander Kots noted that Putin and Trump's exchange appeared to be respectful, but cautioned there was no silver bullet to ending the hostilities.

"It is clear that there will be no instant peace. And there will be no quick solution that will satisfy everyone."