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Key Points
- President Trump spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
- He announced both leaders wanted peace and that negotiations for a ceasefire would begin ‘immediately’.
- It comes after US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth stated restoring Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders was unrealistic.
After speaking to Zelenskyy, Trump said: “The conversation went very well. He, like President Putin, wants to make PEACE.”
The Kremlin said Putin and Trump had agreed to meet, and Putin had invited Trump to visit Moscow.
Does this mean Ukraine will surrender?
Earlier on Wednesday, Trump’s defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, delivered the new administration’s bluntest statement so far on its approach to the war, saying recovering all of Ukraine’s territory occupied by Russia since 2014 was unrealistic, as was securing its membership in NATO.
“Chasing this illusionary goal will only prolong the war and cause more suffering.”
“The United States does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement”.
How has the world responded?
And French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot said he was bringing together European leaders from the UK, Germany, Poland, Spain, Italy and Ukraine in Paris to discuss the war on Wednesday evening.
No peace talks have been held since the early months of the conflict, now approaching its third anniversary. Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden and most Western leaders held no direct discussions with Putin after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
