Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have had a "lengthy and highly productive" phone call where they agreed that negotiations over Ukraine would start "immediately".
Discussing the conversation on his Truth Social platform, the President says the pair talked about Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as AI.
Trump says that "we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine" and that they will "start negotiations immediately" on ending the conflict.
"We will begin by calling President Zelenskyy, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now," Trump said.
Putin and TrumpGETTYDuring the call, which lasted an hour and a half, Trump revealed that the pair "agreed to work together, very closely" which would also involve a visit to each other's nation.
The President also revealed that he has already instructed a team, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to lead the negotiations.
Trump gave his thanks to the Russian leader for both the call and the release of Marc Fogel, an American school teacher who has been held in a Russian prison since 2021 after trying to enter the country with 17g of medical marijuana.
Fogel was released yesterday as part of a deal with the US.
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The war in Ukraine will mark its third anniversary on February 24REUTERS
During the call, which lasted an hour and a half, Trump revealed that the pair 'agreed to work together, very closely'
REUTERSYesterday, Trump posted on Truth Social: "This War MUST and WILL END SOON — Too much Death and Destruction. The U.S. has spent BILLIONS of Dollars Globally, with little to show."
His comments as US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent paid a visit to Kyiv, where the he became the first first member of Trump’s cabinet to visit the country.
Bessent met with Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelensky, and they discussed a possible deal in which Ukraine would sell the US rare earth minerals in return for military support, as well as Russia's ongoing invasion of the country.
Zelensky said he hoped an agreement could be reached at the Munich Security Conference which begins on Friday.
The Ukrainian President has suggested that he is willing to do a deal to secure more US backing
REUTERS
War in Ukraine (Stock)GettyThe Ukrainian President has suggested that he is willing to do a deal to secure more US backing.
“If we are talking about a deal, then let’s do a deal, we are only for it,” he said on February 6.
Last week, Trump similarly announced that he had spoken with Putin about ending the invasion of Ukraine, telling the New York Post that he believes that Putin "does care" about the number of fatalities during the war.
During the interview, which took place onboard Air Force One on Friday, Trump said he had “better not say” how many times he and the Russian leader have spoken, claiming they have a “good relationship” with each other.
The US president previously vowed to end the invasion of Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office, however he now hopes to end the war “fast”.
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