MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

End of war in Ukraine nearer after Trump-Putin talks

Trump and Putin agreed: they both want peace

US President Donald Trump held a telephone conversation Wednesday with his Russian colleague President Vladimir Putin, with whom he discussed for over 90 minutes the idea of starting negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. Both leaders expressed their eagerness to end the conflict at the earliest opportunity possible.

The Republican head of state even admitted he had no trouble leaving Kyiv out of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Trump, who also spoke later in the day with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, claimed he could have prevented the war had he been reelected in 2020.

Trump's administration, including key officials like Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, will lead the negotiations, it was announced in Washington, thus prompting concerns in European countries fearing that these talks would result in giving in to Putin's demands.

“We agreed to work together, very closely, including by visiting each other's nations. We also agreed that our respective teams will begin negotiations immediately and we will begin by calling President Zelensky,” Trump said after hanging up with Putin.

Moscow said Trump had been invited over for talks but would rather meet with Putin in Saudi Arabia “in the not-too-distant future”. In addition, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth admitted in Brussels that Ukraine would only be able to recover just a part of the lost territory. Wishing otherwise would be “unrealistic,” Hegseth explained despite Zelensky's statements that membership was a crucial security goal and a prerequisite for resuming negotiations with Moscow.

“We have agreed to collaborate very closely, including by visiting our respective nations. We have also agreed that our respective teams will begin negotiations immediately,” Trump also said. “The conversation went very well. He [for Zelensky] also wants peace, like President Putin. We talked about a number of war-related issues [and] I hope its results will be positive. It is time to stop this ridiculous war, where there has been massive and unnecessary destruction and death,” he added.

Trump also mentioned he doubted Ukraine would be joining NATO, which has always been one of Russia's concerns. The Kremlin views any expansion of the bloc as a threat to national security and insists Ukraine must remain neutral as part of any peace deal. “I don’t think it’s practical to have it, personally... They’ve been saying that for a long time, that Ukraine cannot go into NATO, and I’m OK with that,” Trump pointed out. The Republican administration’s willingness to consider certain Russian demands, including keeping Ukraine out of NATO, marks a significant shift in US foreign policy.

“The talk between the Russian and US presidents has finally taken place, which is very important in itself. The previous US administration canceled all high-level contacts in an attempt to punish and humiliate Russia. As a result, the world was teetering on the brink of apocalypse,” Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev wrote on social media.