Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin discuss ending Ukraine war and state visits in rare phone call

U.S. President Trump stated that he had a phone call with Russian President Putin, and both agreed to immediately start negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. Reportedly, during the 90-minute call between the two leaders, Putin invited Trump to Moscow to negotiate a three-year ceasefire agreement for the conflict.

Both the White House and the Kremlin confirmed the call, which marks the first known direct dialogue between Putin and a sitting U.S. president in two years. Trump posted on Truth Social that he and Putin had "agreed to have our teams begin immediate negotiations" and that he would call Ukrainian President Zelenskyy.

“As we both agreed, we want to stop the millions of deaths that are occurring in the ridiculous Russia/Ukraine War,” Trump wrote in his post. He also stated: “Putin even used my very powerful campaign slogan, ‘Common Sense.’ We both believe in it. We agreed to work closely together, including meeting each other in our respective countries.”

At a press conference at the White House, Trump said that he and Putin might hold three face-to-face meetings, with the first taking place in Saudi Arabia "in the not too distant future." "We anticipate he'll come here, I'll go there, and maybe the first time we meet we'll meet in Saudi Arabia and see if we can do something," he said. "We want to end that war, that war is a disaster." He also stated that Ukraine joining NATO was "unrealistic" and that the U.S. would not stop aid to Ukraine at this time. Russian state news agency TASS also reported that Putin invited Trump to visit Russia.

Following his call with the Russian leader, Trump spoke with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy stated that he and the U.S. President had a "meaningful conversation." "No one wants peace more than Ukraine," he said. "Together with the United States, we are charting the next steps to stop Russian aggression and ensure lasting, reliable peace." "As President Trump said, let's get it done. We agreed to stay in touch and plan upcoming meetings." Trump stated after his call with the Ukrainian leader: "The conversation went very well. He, like President Putin, wants to make peace."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Trump and the Russian president discussed the Middle East, bilateral relations, Ukraine, and prisoner exchanges between Washington and Moscow. Peskov stated: "The Russian President invited the U.S. President to visit Moscow and expressed his willingness to receive U.S. officials in Russia to discuss areas of mutual interest, including, of course, the issue of Ukraine." Trump stated that negotiations regarding Ukraine were a top priority. "We also agreed to have our teams begin immediate negotiations, and we will be calling President Zelenskyy of Ukraine first, to let him know what was said, and I will be doing that immediately," he said.

International attention will now turn to the form that any potential agreement between Moscow and Ukraine might take. Nearly three years have passed since Russia invaded Ukraine, while former U.S. President Joe Biden has consistently maintained that arming Kyiv rather than negotiating with Moscow is what his country should be doing. Zelenskyy had proposed exchanging occupied Ukrainian land for parts of the Kursk region, a proposal that the Kremlin angrily rejected.

Meanwhile, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a major shift in U.S. policy on the war in Ukraine, telling U.S. allies in Brussels that a return to Ukraine's pre-2014 borders, when Russia did not control Crimea, was an "unrealistic" prospect. The Pentagon chief also stated that U.S. troops would not be sent to keep the peace, as he argued that Europe should be responsible for Ukraine's security. He also flatly rejected the possibility of Ukraine joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Hegseth stated that any peace deal between Russia and Ukraine must include "strong security guarantees to ensure that the war does not start again." "We, like you, want to see a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine," he added. "But we must first recognize that a return to Ukraine's pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic goal. Chasing this illusionary goal will only prolong the war and cause more suffering." Hegseth also told Washington's NATO allies that they must step up their efforts to take on greater responsibility for European security. He said that "grim strategic realities," such as U.S. border security issues and the threat posed by China, made it impossible for the U.S. to "focus primarily on European security."

Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea in March 2014, before backing pro-Russian separatists in an armed rebellion against Kyiv's forces in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region. Russia currently controls around 20% of Ukrainian territory, mainly in the east and south, while Ukraine controls a small amount of Russian land.