Trump says Ukraine talks to start 'immediately' after Putin call

by Danny KEMP

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone Wednesday and agreed to immediately start talks to end the Ukraine war, in an extraordinary thaw in relations that could leave Kyiv out in the cold.

Trump described the call as "lengthy and highly productive" in a post on Truth Social, saying the two leaders had also agreed to visit each other to address the deep tensions since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The Kremlin said the call lasted nearly one-and-a-half hours and that Putin and Trump had agreed that the "time has come to work together".

"I just had a lengthy and highly productive phone call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia," Trump said, adding that they had discussed Ukraine, the Middle East, artificial intelligence and other subjects.

Trump said they agreed that "we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine" -- with Trump using an unconfirmed figure for the toll in the Ukraine conflict.

"We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other’s Nations," said Trump.

"We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately" on Ukraine.

Trump had promised to end the Ukraine war "within 24 hours" before taking office and has been pushing for a peace settlement while remaining coy until now about any possible contact with Putin.

But in a sign that Ukraine could see its fate decided by Washington and Moscow, Trump said that "we will begin by calling President Zelensky, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation."

Volodymyr Zelensky said he had discussed "opportunities to achieve peace" in a "meaningful" call with Trump, during which the US president had "shared details of his conversation with Putin."

Trump said after the conversation that Zelensky "like President Putin, wants to make PEACE."

Zelensky has been trying to keep on the right side of Trump and maintain US support while pushing his own nation's demands for peace with Russia.

- 'Stopping hostilities' -

There had been earlier signs of a thaw this week with a prisoner swap deal that saw Moscow free US teacher Marc Fogel while Washington released Russian cryptocurrency kingpin Alexander Vinnik.

The Trump administration said Wednesday it had also secured the release of a US citizen held in Moscow's ally Belarus.

Trump heaped praise on the Russian president in his Truth Social post, saying that Putin "even used my very strong Campaign motto of, 'COMMON SENSE.'" and thanking him for Fogel's release.

The US president has repeatedly expressed admiration for the Russian leader in the past. Two investigations into alleged collusion between Russia and Trump's 2016 presidential campaign resulted in a number of convictions but found no evidence of criminal cooperation.

The Kremlin's statement on the call was more measured, saying that Putin "agreed with Trump that a long-term settlement could be reached through peace negotiations."

"President Trump spoke in favor of stopping hostilities as soon as possible and solving the problem by peaceful means," Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in his readout of the call.

Putin had also invited Trump to visit Moscow, he said.

Zelensky this week floated the idea of exchanging occupied land but Russia rejected the proposal, hours after launching a fresh barrage of drones and missiles on Kyiv.

He is due to meet US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, where the Ukrainian leader said he hoped to finalize an economic agreement with Washington.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth had earlier said trying to return Ukraine to its pre-2014 borders was an "illusionary goal" and that NATO membership for Kyiv was "not realistic."

Trump's shock announcement of the Putin call has caused consternation in Europe.

The foreign ministers of France, Germany and Spain insisted on Wednesday that there could be "no just and lasting peace in Ukraine" without the involvement of Kyiv and its European partners.

© Agence France-Presse