Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have agreed to begin talks on Ukraine as soon as possible during their first announced phone call on Wednesday.
Trump himself broke the news on Truth Social. “We discussed Ukraine, the Middle East, Energy, Artificial Intelligence, the power of the Dollar, and various other subjects”, the president wrote.
The last direct exchange between U.S. and Russian leaders was the tense February 12, 2022, call between Joe Biden and Putin—just days before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Now, however, Trump appears set on a different course, prioritizing negotiations.
“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,” Trump wrote.
The Kremlin swiftly confirmed the exchange. “Trump voiced support for a swift end to hostilities and a peaceful resolution to the issue,” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday, as reported by RIA Novosti. Putin, he added, stressed the need to address the root causes of the conflict and agreed with Trump that a long-term solution could be reached through negotiations “to put an end to the millions of victims of the war.” During the hour-and-a-half-long call, the Russian leader also reportedly invited his American counterpart to visit Moscow.
Minutes later, as promised, the U.S. president also called Volodymyr Zelensky. The Ukrainian leader described it as a “lengthy conversation” focused on “the prospects for achieving peace, the willingness to work together, and our technological capabilities, including drones and other advanced systems.”
“Ukraine wants peace more than anyone else. We are coordinating our next steps with the U.S. to halt Russian aggression and ensure a stable and lasting peace,” Zelensky added in an official statement.
Earlier Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke in Brussels at a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group—a coalition of 54 nations coordinating military aid to Kyiv since April 2022. The Pentagon chief dismissed Ukraine’s NATO ambitions and called Kyiv’s hopes of reclaiming Crimea and the Donbas “unrealistic.” He also made clear that Washington no longer sees Europe as a strategic priority, signaling that the responsibility for sustaining Ukraine will now rest primarily with its European allies.
The round of phone calls followed Tuesday’s high-profile mission to Moscow by Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy and the first senior U.S. official to visit Russia since the war began. Witkoff’s private jet took off for the U.S., carrying American detainee Marc Fogel, who had been freed just hours earlier in what National Security Advisor Michael Waltz called a “gesture of goodwill” from the Kremlin.
The New York Times later shed light on the deal’s terms, revealing that Russia had secured the release of Aleksandr Vinnik, co-founder of the cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e. The 45-year-old had pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy to commit money laundering, linked to $4 billion in illicit funds, and was facing up to 20 years in a California federal court.
