By Maggie Haberman, Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Anton Troianovski
President Donald Trump said earlier this week that he had a “lengthy and highly productive phone call” with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, characterizing it as the beginning of a negotiation to end the war in Ukraine.
It was the first confirmed conversation between the two men during Trump’s second term, coming as Trump has made clear to advisers that finding a U.S.-backed end to the war that Russia began is a priority for his administration.
“We each talked about the strengths of our respective Nations, and the great benefit that we will someday have in working together,” Trump wrote in a social media post. “But first, as we both agreed, we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine.” (An estimated several hundred thousand deaths have occurred in the conflict, not millions.)
For Putin, the call was a major milestone, signifying the collapse of Western efforts to isolate him diplomatically after he invaded Ukraine nearly three years ago. Ever since Trump’s reelection in November, the Russian president has heaped praise on Trump, underlining the Kremlin’s hope that the new American leader could reshape Moscow’s relationship with Washington and back away from supporting Ukraine.
Wednesday’s conversation between the two presidents came a day after Russia agreed to release an imprisoned American teacher in exchange for the United States returning a convicted cybercriminal to Russia.
Trump, for whom fear of a nuclear war dates back decades, has long sought a better relationship with Russia. At a summit with Putin in Helsinki in his first term, Trump accepted Putin’s statement that Russia did not interfere in the election he had won, a view that contradicted the assessment of U.S. intelligence officials.
Trump campaigned last year on a pledge to settle the war in Ukraine in “24 hours,” a hyperbolic description of his own deal-making skills that nonetheless underscored how important achieving a peace agreement was to him.
His announcement of a plan to work with Russia on a ceasefire comes amid fears in Ukraine that Putin and Trump would forge a close relationship that would push Ukraine to the sidelines in any peace talks.
After speaking to Trump on Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine emphasized that he would be part of the process, writing on social media that he and the U.S. president were “charting our next steps to stop Russian aggression and ensure a lasting, reliable peace. As President Trump said, ‘Let’s get it done.’”
Trump said his conversation with Zelenskyy “went very well.”
“He, like President Putin, wants to make PEACE,” Trump wrote in a post, adding that an initial meeting would be held Friday in Munich, with a delegation led by Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Trump did not elaborate on how Zelenskyy would factor into the discussions that he and Putin were setting in motion. Trump has long been skeptical of Ukraine and has never warmed to Zelenskyy.
The Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters that Putin’s call with Trump lasted almost an hour and a half.
He said that the two men agreed to hold a personal meeting and that Putin invited Trump to visit Moscow, something that Trump also alluded to in his social media post. Putin agreed with Trump that “the time has come for our countries to work together,” Peskov said.
On Ukraine, Putin told Trump of “the need to eliminate the root causes of the conflict,” Peskov said. That was a sign that Putin would not accept a simple ceasefire in Ukraine and would seek broader concessions from Ukraine and the West before he stopped fighting.
The Ukrainians appear to be facing an effort in which they have little leverage. The call between Putin and Trump came on the same day that U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, speaking at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, said that it was an “unrealistic” objective for Ukraine to restore its borders as they were before 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea. Hegseth added that the U.S. did not support Ukraine’s desire to join NATO as part of a realistic peace plan.
Hegseth also suggested that Europe needed to assume a greater role in its own defense, echoing a point that Trump has made for many years.
Trump echoed his defense secretary later Wednesday, telling reporters that “it’s unlikely” that Ukraine would return to its pre-2014 borders. “They took a lot of land and they fought for that land,” he said. The president then added that he thought that “some of it will come back.” Trump also said he thought that future NATO membership for Ukraine was not “practical.”
But Trump also said that he intended to continue sending financial support to Ukraine, adding that he wanted it “secured.” “If we didn’t do that, Putin would say he won,” Trump said, in the clearest indication he has given that he recognizes that the aid is leverage in acquiring a deal.
Trump said he did not believe that Hegseth’s comments undermined negotiations with Russia. “I’m backing Ukraine,” Trump said from the White House.
After his call Wednesday with Trump, Zelenskyy wrote on social media that they discussed a plan that would secure continued U.S. support in exchange for access to Ukrainian natural resources and the “preparation of a new document on security, economic cooperation, and resource partnership.”
The United Nations said Wednesday that it welcomed any efforts leading to peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
“We would appreciate any efforts to resolve the war in Ukraine that would involve the Russian and Ukrainian sides, so obviously, if both of them are willing to be involved in the process, that would be a welcome development,” said Farhan Haq, a U.N. spokesperson.
After a meeting of European foreign ministers in Paris on Wednesday, the French Foreign Ministry said the participants — France, Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain, Britain, Ukraine and the European Union — were prepared to increase support for Ukraine “in the face of Russia’s war of aggression.”
“We are looking forward to discussing the way ahead together with our American allies,” the ministry said in a statement. “Our shared objectives should be to put Ukraine in a position of strength. Ukraine and Europe must be part of any negotiations. Ukraine should be provided with strong security guarantees. A just and lasting peace in Ukraine is a necessary condition for a strong trans-Atlantic security.”
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