Trump and Putin immediately start peace negotiations for the Ukraine conflict

Trump and Putin immediately start peace negotiations for the Ukraine conflict

President Donald Trump announced that negotiations to end the war in Ukraine will begin immediately after a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday morning.

First conversation between Trump and Putin

The phone call, which is the first known conversation between the two presidents since Trump took office last month, took place a day after Release of an American imprisoned in Russia instead of. Trump administration officials expressed hope that the exchange could signal renewed efforts to end the conflict in Ukraine, which is about to enter its fourth year.

Content of the conversation

In a summary of the conversation posted on Truth Social, Trump said: "We talked about Ukraine, the Middle East, energy, artificial intelligence, the strength of the US dollar and various other topics." According to the Kremlin, Trump and Putin spoke for almost 90 minutes.

Trump's desire for talks

Trump had been signaling for weeks that he wanted to talk to Putin to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. "We have agreed to work closely together, including mutual visits to our countries. We have also decided that our respective teams will begin negotiations immediately. We will speak with President Zelensky of Ukraine to inform him of our conversation. I will do that now," Trump continued.

History of US-Russia relations

Trump's predecessor, President Joe Biden, had not spoken to his Russian counterpart in almost three years. The last US president to visit Russia was Barack Obama in 2013, when he attended a G20 summit.

Comments from Trump negotiators

Steve Witkoff, one of Trump's chief negotiators in the conflict, on Wednesday pointed to the release of wrongfully imprisoned American Marc Fogel as "a sign of what possibilities exist for the future of Russia's war in Ukraine." He added: "I think this is perhaps an indication of what the working relationship between President Trump and President Putin will look like in the future and what that could mean for the world at large and for future conflicts. I think they had a great friendship and I think now it will continue. That's a really good thing for the world."

This article will be continually updated.