Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the conversation between Trump and Putin had covered a large number of subjects, including the Middle East and Iran, but that Ukraine was the main subject.
Donald Trump upset three years of American policy with regard to Ukraine on Wednesday, declaring that the Russian leader Vladimir Putin and himself had agreed to start negotiations to end the war following A exchange of prisoners.
The American president said he had spent more than an hour on the phone with the chief of the Kremlin and “I think we are on the path of peace”. He added that he had then maintained himself with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but that he had not specified whether Ukraine would participate on an equal footing in negotiations between the United States and Russia.
“I think that President Putin wants peace, that President Zelensky wants peace and that I want peace”, Trump told journalists in the oval office. “I just want people to stop being killed.”
About his conversation with Mr. Putin, Mr. Trump said: “People did not really know what President Putin thought. But I think I can say with confidence that he also wants it to stop, which is a good thing – and we will strive to put an end to it faster possible “.
Trump said he would meet “probably” Mr. Putin in person suggesting that This tête-à-tête could take place in Saudi Arabia.
The opening of these negotiations indicates above all that Washington and Moscow could work at the conclusion of an agreement by circumventing the Ukrainian government.
Asked specifically about the fact that Ukraine is a full member of the peace process, Donald Trump replied: “This is an interesting question. I think they have to make peace.”
Another certainty, the security guarantees that the West could bring to Ukraine after the war should not imply NATO. This was said on Wednesday the new US Secretary for Defense Pete Hegseth to the Allies at a meeting in Brussels. For him NATO membership is not realistic for Ukraine.
A few hours later, it’s the same message that Donald Trump passed. He clearly specified that he was on the same wavelength as Moscow who does not want Ukraine to join NATO in any case.
A change of radical course. After the invasion of Ukraine by Russia almost three years ago, the Biden administration joined other NATO members to declare that membership in the Western Military Alliance was “inevitable”.
Despite this diplomatic setback, President Zelensky, who also spoke with Donald Trump after his conversation with Vladimir Putin, tried to change. In a message published on social networks, he said he had “a significant conversation “ with Mr. Trump, during which were mentioned “The possibilities of achieving peace” And “Kyiv’s desire to work together at the team level”.
