U.S. President Donald Trump took to his social media site Truth Social to announce he had spoken with Putin. “I just had a lengthy and highly productive phone call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia,” he said, adding that they had discussed Ukraine as well as other topics, including the MIddle East, AI, and “the power of the Dollar.”
Focusing on his and Putin’s dedication to “common sense,” Trump said the two had “agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately,” adding that he would be calling Zelensky to brief him on their call.
Emphasizing the need to stop the death and destruction, Trump said: “Millions of people have died in a War that would not have happened if I were President, but it did happen, so it must end. No more lives should be lost!”
He also thanked Putin for his “time and effort” as well as for releasing Marc Fogel, whom he received personally at the White House.
Perhaps most notably regarding future U.S.-Russian relations, Trump noted that they also “talked about the strengths of our respective Nations, and the great benefit that we will someday have in working together.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that this was the first meeting between the presidents of Russia and the United States in three years and that Vladimir Putin also invited Donald Trump to Moscow for further discussions.
The end of the war in Ukraine is perhaps most critical to those countries neighboring Ukraine, with politicians in those countries greeting the news of a possible quick end with enthusiasm.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, an active Trump-critic, posted only, “All we need is peace. A JUST PEACE. Ukraine, Europe and the United States should work on this together. TOGETHER.”
Meanwhile, Fidesz MEP Andrász László had a negative take, commenting on the lack of European leadership; he also noted the absence of the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, on the call.
“President Trump spoke with President Putin and they agreed to inform President Zelensky only afterwards,” he posted on X, adding that as he had predicted would be the case, no one from Europe was there to decide Europe’s future.
“Most Western powers have weak and irrelevant leaders. Things will get a lot worse in Europe before they get any better,” he said.
— András LÁSZLÓ MEP
President Trump spoke with President Putin and they agreed to inform President Zelenskyy only afterwards.
Brussels and the EU was not even mentioned. Germany, France? Ditto.
I've been saying for a very long time now: when the future of Europe will be decided, European…(@laszloan) February 12, 2025
Trump did in fact have a call with Zelensky afterward, which the Ukrainian president also posted about on X. “I had a meaningful conversation with POTUS. We long talked about opportunities to achieve peace, discussed our readiness to work together at the team level,” he wrote.
Notably, Trump sent Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for an in-person meeting with Zelensky before their phone call. It has long been suggested that Trump has no intention of allowing Ukraine to become a member of NATO, but more importantly, he has been vocal about wanting Ukraine to pay the United States back in some way, namely, via access to Ukraine’s vast natural resources, which Zelensky directly mentioned in his post as well.
“We also spoke about my discussion with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the preparation of a new document on security, economic cooperation, and resource partnership.” Bessent himself has, according to Reuters, called granting America access to its rare earth minerals a “security shield” for Ukraine.
“No one wants peace more than Ukraine. Together with the U.S., we are charting our next steps to stop Russian aggression and ensure a lasting, reliable peace. As President Trump said, let’s get it done,” Zelensky wrote.
In another post regarding his meeting with Bessent, Zelensky wrote: “We received the U.S. vision for deepening our cooperation.”
