President Trump Wednesday said Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to start talks to end the war in Ukraine during a “lengthy and highly productive” phone call.
Framing Putin as a potential partner on the world stage, Trump said they would “work together, very closely” toward winding down the Ukraine conflict, which started when Putin invaded the neighboring nation three years ago.
“As we both agreed, we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine,” Trump said. “President Putin even used my very strong campaign motto of ‘common sense.’ We both believe very strongly in it.”
Trump said he planned to invite Putin to the U.S. and hopes to make a reciprocal visit to Russia.
“People have died in a war that would not have happened if I were president, but it did happen, so it must end,” Trump said. “No more lives should be lost.”
Trump said he planned to inform Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the 90-minute conversation, but he did not say whether Ukraine would be part of the talks.
Putin has refused to negotiate with Zelenskyy, calling him a puppet. Ukraine has resisted pressure to cede territory to Russian invaders as a potential bargaining chip, although Zelenskyy this week suggested he could be open to territorial compromise.
Along with Ukraine, Trump said he and Putin touched on a variety of subjects including the conflicts in the Middle East, energy, artificial intelligence and the U.S. dollar’s position in the world economy.
He thanked Putin for releasing imprisoned American teacher Mark Fogel in a swap for Alexander Vinnik, a Russian Bitcoin swindler jailed in the U.S., a deal that apparently greased the wheels for the phone call.
The Trump administration had already signaled that it planned to pressure Ukraine to accept some kind of land-for-peace deal to end the war.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a European Union meeting earlier Wednesday that it was “unrealistic” for Ukraine to think it could keep all its internationally recognized territory or that Ukraine should become a member of NATO, a key Russian demand.
“President Trump spoke in favor of an early end to hostilities and a peaceful solution to the problem,” Peskov said. “President Putin, for his part, mentioned the need to eliminate the root causes of the conflict and agreed with Trump that a long-term settlement can be achieved through peaceful negotiations.”