US President Donald Trump said negotiations to end the war in Ukraine will begin ‘immediately’ after holding a ‘lengthy and highly productive’ phone call with Vladimir Putin on Wednesday evening.
The call, believed to be the first conversation between the two leaders since Trump returned to office in January, came as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prepares to enter its fourth year.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said he had also spoken with Trump and looked forward to creating a ‘lasting, reliable peace’.
The Kremlin reports that Trump and Putin spoke for nearly 90 minutes, and that both men assumed a conciliatory tone following a long period of silence between the White House and Moscow.
Recapping the meeting in a post on Truth Social, Trump said: ‘We discussed Ukraine, the Middle East, Energy, Artificial Intelligence, the power of the Dollar, and various other subjects.’
‘We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other’s Nations. We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling President Zelenskyy, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now.’
He added: ‘It is time to stop this ridiculous War, where there has been massive, and totally unnecessary, DEATH and DESTRUCTION. God bless the people of Russia and Ukraine!’
Trump did not set a date for a face-to-face meeting with Putin, but said the pair will meet in Saudi Arabia at some point in the near future. Both leaders also invited each other to their respective capitals.
As American officials prepare to travel to Europe this week, a clearer picture of how the war may conclude is starting to take shape. Speaking in Brussels, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said it is unrealistic to expect Ukraine to join NATO, and that following the resolution of the conflict the US will no longer prioritise European security and will instead shift its attention towards securing internal borders and dealing with China.
Trump also told reporters at the White House that a return to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders was impossible, but that ‘some of that land will come back.’
The news will likely be difficult for Zelensky, who had previously insisted that there ‘ can be no talks on Ukraine without Ukraine’.
But the new administration has made it clear that the US and Russia will take the lead in peace negotiations, with Ukraine relegated to a junior partner.
Trump said he has not yet committed to going to Ukraine, and when asked whether Zelensky would be in attendance when he meets with Putin in Saudi Arabia, said it was unlikely the Ukrainian president would be invited.
‘Probably we’ll have a first meeting and then we’ll see what we can do about the second meeting,’ he told reporters. ‘I would think about going, I’d think about it, no problem.’
The last US president to visit Russia was Barack Obama in 2013, when he attended a G20 summit, while Putin last visited the US in 2015 to attend talks at the United Nations.
Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden refused to meet Putin during his time in office after branding the Russian president a war criminal.
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s powerful Security Council, said on Thursday that the call between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump showed that any Western hopes of defeating Russia would never be achieved.
‘There is not and cannot be a main country and a senior ruler of the planet,’ Medvedev said. ‘This lesson should be learned by the arrogant American elites.’
‘It is impossible to bring us to our knees. And the sooner our opponents realise this, the better,’ he added.
UK defence secretary John Healey echoed Zelensky’s remarks on Thursday morning and said ‘There can be no negotiation about Ukraine without Ukraine.’
Responding to Trump’s comments, about Ukraine, Healey said it is Nato’s job to ‘put Ukraine in the strongest possible position for any talks’.
‘We want to see durable peace and no return to conflict and aggression,’ he added. ‘Let’s not forget Russia remains a threat well beyond Ukraine.’
Nato secretary Mark Rutte said there was a ‘clear convergence’ among allies to see peace in Ukraine ‘sooner than later’ and that Russia must not be allowed to ‘capture a square kilometre, a square mile of Ukraine in the future.’
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