US President Donald Trump says he expects to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saudi Arabia for Ukraine peace talks, following an extraordinary thaw in relations
In their first confirmed contact since Trump's return to the White House, the US president said he had held a "lengthy and highly productive" phone call with his Russian counterpart, who ordered the bloody 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
But the move sparked concerns that Ukraine will be left out of talks on its own fate, after Trump said Kyiv's wish to join NATO was not "practical" – a key demand of Moscow.
Trump, who has been pushing for a quick end to the nearly three-year war, denied that Ukraine was being excluded from the direct negotiations between the two nuclear-armed superpowers.
"We expect that he'll come here, and I'll go there – and we're going to meet probably in Saudi Arabia the first time," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office about his plans to meet Putin.
Trump said he expected it to happen "in the not too distant future" and added that Saudi Crown Prince Prince Mohammed bin Salman – who played a key role in a Russia-US prisoner exchange this week – would also be involved.
The Kremlin said the call lasted nearly one-and-a-half hours. The two leaders had agreed that the "time has come to work together" and that Putin has invited Trump to Moscow, it said.
Before taking office on January 20, Trump had promised to end the Ukraine war "within 24 hours.”
'Make peace'
Trump took the world by surprise as he announced the phone call on his Truth Social platform earlier, saying he and Putin had "both agreed, we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine," using an unconfirmed figure for the toll in the conflict.
The US president said they had agreed to "work together very closely, including visiting each other's Nations" and to "have our respective teams start negotiations immediately" on Ukraine.
Trump later called Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was not included on the call with Putin.
Zelenskyy said afterwards that he had a "meaningful" call with Trump in which he had "shared details" of his talks with Putin.
Trump said after the conversation that Zelenskyy "like President Putin, wants to make PEACE."
Andriy Yermak, head of Kyiv's presidential office, said in televised comments that Zelenskyy and Trump had agreed to "immediately" start work on the high-level teams from each side who will try to hash out a deal.
The teams will "begin a process of daily work" and Zelenskyy and his officials will meet US officials involved at the Munich Security Conference in a day's time, Yermak said.
But Trump's call with Putin has raised concerns that the United States was agreeing to Russia's terms.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth told European counterparts earlier Wednesday that Ukraine's dream of returning to its pre-2014 borders was an "illusionary goal" – and that Kyiv's wish for NATO membership was "not realistic." Both are key demands of Moscow.
Trump denied that Zelenskyy was being frozen out, and rejected criticism that Hegseth's comments meant Washington was agreeing to Russia's preconditions.
Yermak meanwhile reiterated Kyiv's stance that Ukraine's "independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty" cannot be subject to compromise.
The Ukrainian leader is calling for tough security guarantees from Washington as part of any deal with Russia. Trump has meanwhile suggested a deal for Kyiv's rare earth minerals in exchange for its continued military aid.
Ukrainians reeling
Ukrainians were reeling on Thursday in the wake of the call, as fears grew that Kyiv could be sidelined from peace talks.
The president of the Kyiv School of Economics, Tymofiy Mylovanov, said that Ukraine had been unwilling to accept that US military and political backing could dwindle.
"We have always lived in this reality. But we didn't want to admit it," the respected political commentator wrote on social media.
Former US President Joe Biden "supported the continuation of the war but did not provide sufficient assistance," the respected political commentator wrote on social media.
"Trump supports the end of the war but will not provide sufficient assistance either," he added.
Daria Zarivna, a communications advisor to the Ukrainian presidency's chief-of-staff, warned against speculating about the peace talks.
"There are too many unnecessary rumours and conspiracy theories around the negotiations and positions," she wrote on social media.
Zarivna did acknowledge that Trump's calls with Putin and Zelenskyy may have ushered in a new chapter of the conflict and she urged unity among Ukrainians.
– TIMES/AFP
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