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President Donald Trump said negotiations to end the Ukraine war will start “immediately” after holding a “lengthy and highly productive” telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday morning.
The call, which is the first known conversation between the presidents since Trump assumed office last month, came as as Trump makes clear to his advisers he wants to bring the Ukraine conflict to a swift end.
Trump administration officials said they hoped a prisoner “exchange” on Tuesday could portend renewed efforts to end the war, which is about to enter its fourth year.
Now, as the two leaders resume communication after a long period of silence between the White House and Kremlin, the contours of Trump’s settlement plan are coming into clearer focus.
In a readout of the conversation posted on Truth Social, Trump said, “We discussed Ukraine, the Middle East, Energy, Artificial Intelligence, the power of the Dollar, and various other subjects.”
“We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other’s Nations. We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling President Zelenskyy, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now,” Trump wrote.
Both Washington and Moscow, in their descriptions of the call, suggested the men assumed a conciliatory tone.
“President Putin even used my very strong Campaign motto of, ‘COMMON SENSE.’ We both believe very strongly in it,” Trump wrote, suggesting the former KGB agent on the other end of the line had chosen his words carefully to appeal to the US leader.
The Kremlin said Trump and Putin spoke for nearly 90 minutes.
Trump had been signaling for weeks his desire to speak with Putin as he works to resolve the Ukraine conflict.
As American officials travel in Europe this week, they have begun taking clearer positions on how the conclusion of the Ukraine war might look. Speaking to a conference in Brussels, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Kyiv joining NATO is unrealistic and that the US will no longer prioritize European and Ukrainian security as the Trump administration shifts its attention to securing US borders and deterring war with China.
Meanwhile, Trump has spoken of striking a deal with Ukraine’s Zelensky for American access to the country’s valuable rare earth minerals as payment for continued American assistance.
Trump spoke with Zelensky midday, shortly after getting off the phone with Putin.
His predecessor, President Joe Biden, hadn’t spoken to his Russian counterpart in nearly three years, believing there was little to be gained in speaking to a leader he’d deemed a war criminal.
The last US president to visit Russia was Barack Obama in 2013, when he attended a G20 summit. Putin last visited in the United States in 2015 to attend United Nations talks.
Later on Wednesday, Trump indicated that he could soon meet with Putin in Saudi Arabia but cautioned that no formal decision has been made on the matter.
“We think we’re going to probably meet in Saudi Arabia, the first meeting,” Trump said, hours after the two spoke by phone.
The president indicated that Saudi Arabian leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman would play a role in the discussions, saying, “We know the crown prince, and I think it’d be a very good place to be.”
A date for that meeting, Trump said, “hasn’t been set,” but he said it could be in the “not too distant future.”
Trump added he has not yet committed to go to Ukraine.
Asked whether Zelensky would be in attendance when he meets with Putin, Trump appeared to suggest he would not be present for the initial meeting: “Probably we’ll have a first meeting and then we’ll see what we can do about the second meeting.”
“I would think about going, I’d think about it, no problem,” he said.
Steve Witkoff, who will be among Trump’s top negotiators on the conflict, pointed earlier Wednesday to the release of wrongfully detained American Marc Fogel as “an indication of what the possibilities are” for the future of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“I think that’s maybe a sign about how that working relationship between President Trump and President Putin will be in the future, and what that may portend for the world at large, for conflict and so forth. I think they had a great friendship, and I think now it’s going to continue, and it’s a really good thing for the world,” he said.
Witkoff met privately with Putin while in Moscow on Tuesday, two sources familiar with the meeting told CNN.
CNN’s Kit Maher, Anna Chernova and Christian Edwards contributed to this report.
CNN
