Trump said in a social media post that he and Putin held a lengthy phone call and committed to “work together, very closely” to bring the conflict to an end and would meet in person, including perhaps in each other’s countries.
Trump subsequently announced that he'd also spoken with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but only after his talk with Putin. After the calls, White House officials declined to clarify whether Ukraine would be a party to the U.S. negotiations.
In a social media post, Zelenskyy said he had “a meaningful conversation" with Trump that included discussion of “opportunities to achieve peace” and Kyiv’s “readiness to work together at the team level.”
“I am grateful to President Trump,” he said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the conversation between Trump and Putin covered a good deal of ground, including the Middle East and Iran, but that Ukraine was the main focus.
“The Russian president supported one of the main theses of the U.S. president that the time has come for our two countries to work together,” Peskov told reporters. “The Russian president invited the U.S. president to visit Moscow and expressed readiness to host U.S. officials in Russia for issues of mutual interest, naturally including Ukraine, the Ukrainian settlement.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said of Trump's conversations with both Putin and Zelenskyy: “They were very good calls. They were very positive.”
