Donald Trump has spoken to Vladimir Putin on the phone and agreed to begin negotiations to end the war in Ukraine ‘immediately’. The US President announced details of the conversation between the two leaders on his social media platform Truth Social.
According to Trump, the pair had a ‘lengthy and highly productive’ discussion, touching on AI, the Middle East, the ‘power of the dollar’ and bonded over how valiantly their two nations had fought side by side against the Nazis in the second world war.
‘But first, as we both agreed, we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the war with Russia/Ukraine.’ In a move bound to have thrilled Trump, he claimed that ‘President Putin even used my very strong Campaign motto of “COMMON SENSE”.’ Putin invited Trump to Moscow, and the President reciprocated the invitation of a visit.
‘We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately,’ Trump continued, declaring that his first move would be to inform Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of this development. Whether Zelensky had already found out via Trump’s own social media post currently remains unclear.
Around the same time as Trump’s revelation, the Kremlin too confirmed that a conversation between the two leaders had indeed taken place – the first time Moscow has acknowledged that a discussion between the two has taken place. Speaking to reporters, the Kremlin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov revealed that the call was nearly an hour and a half long and that the two would make efforts to meet face to face.
The news of Trump and Putin’s discussion comes on the eve of the Munich Security Conference, due to be held in Germany this coming weekend. There have been rumours for a short while that the American president’s team, led by Ukraine special envoy Keith Kellogg, would reveal more details of Trump’s ambitions for the country. In his statement this afternoon, Trump confirmed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of the CIA John Ratcliffe, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff would be leading the American delegation in discussions with Putin.
To Ukraine, Trump’s statement today regarding talks with Putin will appear as confirmation of their worst nightmare when it comes to how the conflict with Russia ends. Zelensky has long been at pains to reinforce that there can be no discussions over Ukraine’s future without Ukraine present – conversations such as today appear to signal that Trump has few qualms about going over the Ukrainian president’s head. European allies of Ukraine – who have long supported Zelensky’s wish to be included at the negotiating table – are also unlikely to be thrilled by today’s developments.
For Zelensky now, the challenge will be to try and keep hold of Trump’s ear as and when the negotiations begin – and use all the diplomatic skill and flattery he can muster to ensure Trump keeps Ukraine’s interests in mind. Whether that will come to pass, or whether, with the benefit of hindsight, this marks the start of a fresh period of appeasement to Putin, only time will tell.
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