Media: After conversation with Putin Trump says negotiations to end Ukraine war will start ‘immediately’

Pic.: thegatewaypundit.com

President Donald Trump said negotiations to end the Ukraine war will start “immediately” after holding a “lengthy and highly productive” telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday morning, CNN informs.

The call, which is the first known conversation between the presidents since Trump assumed office last month, came as Trump makes clear to his advisers he wants to bring the Ukraine conflict to a swift end.

Now, as the two leaders resume communication after a long period of silence between the White House and Kremlin, the contours of Trump’s settlement plan are coming into clearer focus.

In a readout of the conversation posted 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,” Trump wrote.

Both Washington and Moscow, in their descriptions of the call, suggested the men assumed a conciliatory tone.

“President Putin even used my very strong Campaign motto of, ‘COMMON SENSE.’ We both believe very strongly in it,” Trump wrote.

The Kremlin said Trump and Putin spoke for nearly 90 minutes.

President Donald Trump revealed he has begun negotiations with Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine, writes ‘The Daily Mail’.

In a 90-minute phone call on Wednesday the two leaders also laid the groundwork for historic summits between them in the U.S. and Moscow.  

Trump made the bombshell announcement in a lengthy post to his Truth Social account, declaring that 'the war must end.'

He also said the two leaders agreed to visit each other's countries soon. Trump would be the first U.S. President to visit Russia since Barack Obama in 2013.

Announcing the negotiations, Trump wrote: 'We want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine. President Putin even used my very strong Campaign motto of, 'COMMON SENSE'.

'We both believe very strongly in it. We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other's Nations.'

He added: '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 then phoned Zelensky and, afterwards, declared that the Ukrainian leader also wants an end to the war.

The U.S. President wrote: 'The conversation went very well. He, like President Putin, wants to make PEACE.'

Trump said Zelensky would meet on Friday in Munich with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

He wrote: 'I am hopeful that the results of that meeting will be positive. 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's pronouncement will send shockwaves around the world.

Earlier Wednesday, his administration said it was ending all American aid to Ukraine – a blow to Zelensky, who is struggling to hold his nation together.

Trump's move also put pressure on European allies who have been a bastion of support for Kyiv.

It was Putin's first known direct contact with a U.S. president since February 2022.

'President Putin... agreed with Trump that a long-term settlement could be reached through peaceful negotiations,' the Kremlin said.

The call between Trump and Putin took place as the administration announced that America will no longer front the lion's share of aid to Ukraine. The decision is a devastating blow to Kyiv and will pile pressure on Europe to fill the void.

Putin said last year that a deal would hinge upon Ukraine's recognition of Russia's claim to four regions in its east and south, including areas not currently controlled by Russia.

Zelensky has rejected any territorial concessions to Moscow, though he has acknowledged that Ukraine might have to rely on diplomatic means to secure the return of some territory.

Donald Trump has said that he and Vladimir Putin have agreed to begin negotiations to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine, as the secretary of defence, Pete Hegseth, said that Ukraine would have to cede territory and reject NATO membership in order to reach a deal, ‘The Guardian’ stresses.

The rapid entry into negotiations with Russia and open demands that Ukraine concede land will have set alarm bells ringing in Kyiv and among its European allies that the Trump administration will offer minimal resistance to Putin’s demands in order to cut a deal as quickly as possible.

The Kremlin confirmed the call and the mutual invitations for the leaders to visit each other’s countries, in what would be the first visits by an American president to Russia since 2009 and the first by Putin to the US since 2015.

In its readout, the Kremlin also maintained a maximalist position, with Putin saying he “mentioned the need to eliminate the root causes of the conflict and agreed with Trump that a long-term settlement could be achieved through peaceful negotiations”.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy – at least in public – offered support for the talks on Wednesday, saying he and Trump had held a “meaningful” conversation by phone. “No one wants peace more than Ukraine,” he wrote. “Together with the US, we are charting our next steps to stop Russian aggression and ensure a lasting, reliable peace. As President Trump said, let’s get it done.”

The US negotiating position was outlined in Brussels, where Hegseth delivered public remarks that Kyiv must acknowledge that it cannot win back all the land occupied by Russia.

“We must start by recognising that returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective,” Hegseth said, sketching out an initial position for any peace negotiations with Russia.

“Chasing this illusory goal will only prolong the war and cause more suffering,” he added, though this could be interpreted as in effect acknowledging the annexation of Crimea, and large parts of the Donbas by Russia.

Kyiv would only achieve peace through “robust security guarantees”, but Hegseth ruled out Nato membership for Ukraine. Instead, peace would have to be secured by “capable European and non-European troops”, who he stressed would not come from the US.

Any British or European troops deployed in Ukraine would not be covered by part of a Nato mission or covered by the alliance’s article 5 guarantee, Hegseth added, meaning they would in effect be reliant on help from participating states.

Earlier this week, Zelenskyy, told ‘The Guardian’ that Europe was not able to offer resilient security guarantees to Kyiv without the involvement of the US. “Security guarantees without America are not real,” he said.

The rapid developments have worried Europe that Putin and Trump appear to be negotiating the future of the continent’s security over the heads of the Europeans themselves.

“If Europe is responsible for Ukraine’s security and could even provide troops [under a ceasefire agreement], then we should have a seat at the table and be consulted with the Americans,” said one European official. “And we have not been consulted.”

European foreign ministers declared their support for Ukraine during a meeting of the country’s allies in Paris on Wednesday. The German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said that Ukraine’s interests must be protected in the upcoming negotiations between Moscow and Washington. The French foreign minister, Jean Noël-Barrot, called for Europe’s direct participation in the talks, saying that there “will be no just and lasting peace in Ukraine without the participation of Europeans”.

A spokesperson for the British foreign office expressed support for Trump’s desire to bring the war to an end, but added: “Russia could do this tomorrow by withdrawing its forces and ending its illegal invasion. We have always said we will support Ukraine to achieve a just and lasting peace. Our priority right now is to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position.”

Trump’s announcement followed a prisoner swap involving Marc Fogel, a US teacher who was arrested in Moscow on drug charges, and Alexander Vinnik, who was arrested in 2017 in Greece on cryptocurrency fraud charges and then extradited to the US.

The deal was arranged by Witkoff, Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, who has now been charged as one of his closest allies on the team that will lead negotiations with the Russians.

The US negotiating team would include the secretary of state, Marco Rubio; the director of the CIA, John Ratcliffe; the national security adviser, Michael Waltz, the ambassador and Witkoff.

Notable for his absence from the negotiating team was Gen Keith Kellogg, whom Trump had earlier named his special envoy for Ukraine and Russia and was in the process of meeting with European leaders to discuss the upcoming negotiations.

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