Trump says he will visit Russia and host Putin as war negotiations to start ‘immediately . ‘Earlier, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth told a key Ukraine meeting at NATO HQ American troops will not deploy to Ukraine as peacekeepers as part of any ceasefire deal.
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have just got off the phone after a call lasting one and a half hours.
“We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other’s nations,” Trump posted on social media.
The pair agreed to have “our respective teams start negotiations immediately” on ending the war in Ukraine.
“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.
Leading the negotiations will be secretary of state Marco Rubio, director of the CIA John Ratcliffe, national security advisor Michael Waltz, and ambassador Steve Witkoff, he said.
Trump described the phone conversation as “highly productive” and the leaders “agreed we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine”.
“I want to thank President Putin for his time and effort with respect to this call, and for the release, yesterday, of Marc Fogel, a wonderful man that I personally greeted last night at the White House,” said Trump.
Fogel, a Pennsylvania school teacher, was released from a Russian prison yesterday as part of a deal with the US.Putin and Trump agree ‘time has come’ for US and Russia to ‘work together’
Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump agreed that “the time has come for our countries to work together” during their phone call, the Kremlin has said.
Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the Russian president invited Trump to visit Moscow and expressed readiness to receive American officials in Russia.
“The topic of Ukraine settlement was also discussed. President Trump spoke in favour of the rapid cessation of hostilities and the solution of problems through peaceful means.
“President Putin, for his part, mentioned the need to eliminate the root causes of the conflict and agreed with Trump that a long-term settlement can be achieved through peaceful negotiations.
“The Russian President also supported one of the main theses of the head of the American state that the time has come for our countries to work together.”
