Washington — President Trump stated Wednesday that he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and directed members of his nationwide safety crew to “instantly” start negotiations aimed toward ending Russia’s warfare with Ukraine.
The decision between Mr. Trump and Putin is the primary recognized dialog between the 2 for the reason that president returned to the White Home for a second time period. It comes a day after Russia released Pennsylvania schoolteacher Marc Fogel, who was serving a 14-year sentence and was designated as wrongfully detained late final yr.
“I simply had a prolonged and extremely productive cellphone name with President Vladimir Putin of Russia,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “We mentioned Ukraine, the Center East, Power, Synthetic Intelligence, the ability of the Greenback, and numerous different topics.”
Mr. Trump stated he and Putin talked concerning the “nice profit that we’ll sometime have in working collectively” and agreed on the necessity to finish Russia’s warfare with Ukraine. Along with the pledge to start discussions on the warfare in Ukraine, the president and his Russian counterpart stated they might go to “one another’s nation.”
The president stated he has directed Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, nationwide safety adviser Michael Waltz and Center East envoy Steve Witkoff to steer negotiations on the warfare.
Mr. Trump additionally spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy quickly after his name with the Russian chief. Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X that “[n]o one needs peace greater than Ukraine” and that Ukraine is “charting our subsequent steps to cease Russian aggression and guarantee an enduring, dependable peace.” Mr. Trump wrote in a statement on Truth Social that the dialog with Zelenskyy went “very properly” and stated it is “time to cease this ridiculous Conflict, the place there was large, and completely pointless, DEATH and DESTRUCTION.”
Mr. Trump’s dialog with Putin got here shortly after Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth seemed to undercut key Ukrainian positions in eventual peace talks, together with by ruling out eventual membership in NATO. Talking forward of a closed-door assembly of the Ukraine Protection Contract Group about extra assist, Hegseth stated peace within the nation should embody safety ensures that “shouldn’t be offered by way of NATO membership, however should as an alternative be backed by succesful European and non-European troops.”
The protection chief additionally stated Ukraine’s aim of returning to its borders earlier than 2014, when Russia first invaded and annexed the Crimean Peninsula, was an “unrealistic goal.”
The president, too, addressed the prospect of Russia sustaining management of Ukrainian territory its forces have occupied throughout an interview with Fox Information that aired Monday, suggesting Ukraine “could also be Russian sometime, or they is probably not Russian sometime.”
Mr. Trump regularly claims that Russia wouldn’t have launched its invasion of Ukraine three years in the past if he have been president and vowed on the marketing campaign path to rapidly deliver an finish to the warfare. Vice President JD Vance is set to meet with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy at a safety convention in Munich that begins Friday.
The president has been a vehement critic of U.S. army assist to Ukraine, prompting issues from Kyiv that help would cease flowing with him again in workplace. He instructed Fox Information that aid could depend on Ukraine agreeing a commerce deal that provides the U.S. entry to its uncommon earth minerals.
“We’re going to have all this cash in there, and I say I need it again. And I instructed them that I need the equal, like $500 billion value of uncommon earth,” he stated. “They’ve primarily agreed to do this, so at the very least we do not really feel silly.”
The U.S. has offered greater than $65 billion in army help to Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022, based on the State Division.
