The Trump White House / Wikimedia Commons (Left), Пресс-служба Президента РФ / Wikimedia Commons (Right)
CV NEWS FEED // Following a Wednesday phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, President Donald Trump announced the two men had reached an agreement to “immediately” begin negotiations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to end the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Trump wrote on TRUTH Social late Wednesday morning that he had just “discussed Ukraine, the Middle East, Energy, Artificial Intelligence, the power of the Dollar, and various other subjects” with Putin during a “lengthy and highly productive phone call.”
Trump said they “both agreed, we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine.”
“We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other’s Nations,” Trump continued. “We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling President Zelenskyy, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now.”
Trump noted that he had asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steven Witkoff “to lead the negotiations which, I feel strongly, will be successful.” Witkoff notably served as one of the key negotiators on last month’s ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel.
“Millions of people have died in a War that would not have happened if I were President,” Trump wrote of the Russo-Ukrainian War, “but it did happen, so it must end. No more lives should be lost!”
Conflict between the two Eastern European nations had been ongoing since 2014 but was significantly escalated in February 2022 when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Trump on Wednesday also thanked Putin for the release of American history teacher Marc Fogel, a Catholic, the day before, “a wonderful man that I personally greeted last night at the White House.”
Fogel, a 66-year-old Pennsylvania native, had been held as a prisoner in Russia since 2021, when he was arrested for possessing a small amount of medical marijuana. At the time, he was working at an English-language school in Moscow.
Trump concluded his post: “I believe this effort will lead to a successful conclusion, hopefully soon!”
Also Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered opening remarks at a Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) meeting in Brussels, Belgium, where he expressed reservations about Ukraine joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
The UDCG consists of representatives from over 50 countries who have supported Ukraine during the war, including all 32 member states of NATO, such as the United States, Canada, and most European countries.
Hegseth said at the meeting that “the United States does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement.”
“Instead any security guarantee must be backed by capable European and non-European troops,” the Defense Secretary continued. “To be clear, as part of any security guarantee, there will not be U.S. troops deployed to Ukraine.”
“Safeguarding European security must be an imperative for European members of NATO,” added Hegseth. “As part of this, Europe must provide the overwhelming share of future lethal and nonlethal aid to Ukraine. …European allies must lead from the front.”
Hegseth went on to say that the “United States remains committed to the NATO alliance and to the defense partnership with Europe. Full stop.” However, U.S. “will no longer tolerate an imbalanced relationship which encourages dependency. Rather, our relationship will prioritize empowering Europe to own responsibility for its own security.”
“President Trump looks forward to working together, to continuing this frank discussion amongst friends, and to achieve peace through strength – together,” Hegseth concluded.
