Trump and Putin's Urgent Dialogue: Ukraine Peace Talks Initiated

Trump stated on Truth Social that both leaders had invited each other to “visit each other’s nations,” and the US leader mentioned he would be calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “right now” to update him about the call.

The Kremlin reported that the call lasted 90 minutes and that both Trump and Putin had concurred that “the time has come to work together,” marking a remarkable warming of ties between Moscow and Washington.

The Kremlin stated that Putin also informed Trump of the possibility of a “long-term settlement” regarding the Ukraine conflict initiated by Russia’s 2022 invasion of its pro-Western neighbor and extended an invitation to the US president to visit Moscow.

Following a prisoner exchange this week in which Moscow released US teacher Marc Fogel and Washington freed Russian cryptocurrency kingpin Alexander Vinnik, the Trump-Putin call took place.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump lauded the Russian president, noting that Putin “even used my very strong Campaign motto of, ‘COMMON SENSE.'”

He stated that they "both agreed, we want to stop the millions of deaths occurring in the Russia/Ukraine war" — with Trump citing an unverified number for the casualties in the conflict.

Trump stated, “We came to an agreement to collaborate closely, which includes visiting each other’s Nations.”

“We have also agreed to have our respective teams initiate negotiations right away, starting with a call to Ukrainian President Zelensky to inform him of this discussion, which I will do immediately.”

Trump mentioned that he had requested US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, and his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff “to spearhead the negotiations that I believe will succeed.”