Trump told reports on Wednesday in the White House that the phone conversation with Putin was “lengthy and highly productive” and immediately afterwards had a phone call with Zelensky. The US President said the leaders had agreed that the “time has come to work together” to end the conflict in Ukraine.
“We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately," President Trump wrote on Truth Social. He said he has asked US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency John Ratcliffe, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff to lead the US team in the negotiations.
Trump noted that he would "probably" meet in person with Putin in the near term. "I think we will get something done. We're ultimately expected to meet. He will come here and I will go there. We're gonna meet also probably Saudi Arabia the first time to get something done."
 US President Donald Trump (Photo: AP) |
It was the first confirmed conversation between Trump and Putin since the US President took office on January 20, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday,
“President Putin emphasized the need to remove the root causes of the conflict and agreed with Trump that a long-term settlement could be achieved through peace talks," he added.
Meanwhile, Zelensky said his discussion with President Trump covered solutions for peace and future economic cooperation between Ukraine and the US.
Later, the United Nations said it welcomes all efforts to resolve the Ukraine-Russia conflict through “regular contacts” and sees the phone calls between the US, Russian, and Ukrainian leaders as a "positive thing," UN spokesman Farhan Haq said Wednesday. “The United Nations is willing to play a good offices role if asked to by the parties," he added.
The same day, European powers, including Britain, France and Germany, said they had to be part of any future negotiations on the fate of Ukraine, at a meeting with Ukraine’s foreign minister in Paris.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock welcomed President Putin’s willingness to negotiate and called on EU countries to show unity in this matter. Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said, “there is no better guarantee for the security of our continent than close transatlantic cooperation.”
Britain’s foreign office released a statement supporting US President Donald Trump's desire to bring the conflict in Ukraine to an end.