Putin, Trump agree on Ukraine negotiations

The talk lasted for about an hour and a half, during which the two leaders discussed a broad range of issues, primarily the Ukraine conflict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stated.

The phone call turned out to be “lengthy and highly productive,” Trump said in a post on his Truth social media platform.

“We discussed Ukraine, the Middle East, Energy, Artificial Intelligence, the power of the Dollar, and various other subjects,” the US president wrote.

The two leaders have agreed they “want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine,” Trump added, announcing an “immediate” start of negotiations to resolve the Ukraine conflict.

Wednesday’s call represents the first official top-level contact between Moscow and Washington since Trump took office in January. While phone conversations between Trump and Putin have been rumored for weeks, none have been officially confirmed, with both sides stating only they had been maintaining contact through various unspecified government channels.

The official Kremlin readout of the Putin-Trump phone conversation emphasized the need to eliminate the “root causes” of the Ukraine conflict in order to reach a “sustainable settlement.”

The leaders discussed issues related to the prisoner exchange between Russia and the United States. The US President assured the President of Russia of the American side’s commitment to fulfill all the agreements reached.

The leaders also discussed a possible Ukraine settlement. Trump spoke in favour of stopping the hostilities as soon as possible and solving the crisis peacefully. In turn, Putin pointed out it was necessary to eliminate the root causes of the conflict and agreed with Donald Trump in that a sustainable settlement could only be reached via peaceful negotiations.

Additionally, the President of Russia expressed support for one of the US President’s key arguments, which was that it was time for both countries to work together.

The issues of Middle East settlement, Iran’s nuclear programme, and bilateral economic relations between Russia and the United States were also brought up during the conversation.

The President of Russia invited the US President to visit Moscow and expressed willingness to receive visiting officials from the United States to discuss topics of mutual interest, including a possible Ukraine settlement.

Putin and Trump agreed to maintain personal contact in the future, involving in particular in-person meetings.