Trump and Putin discussed ending the war in Ukraine
President Trump said yesterday that he had a “highly productive” call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, characterizing it as the beginning of a negotiation to end the war in Ukraine.
Afterward, Trump said he spoke with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. For Putin, the talk was a major milestone, marking the collapse of Western efforts to isolate him diplomatically over the invasion of Ukraine.
Trump did not say how Ukraine’s interests would factor into the negotiations. But hours before the phone call, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said at a NATO meeting in Brussels that it was “unrealistic” for Ukraine to expect a peace deal that would restore its pre-2014 borders. Trump, he added, does not support Ukraine’s membership in NATO as part of a realistic peace plan.
Background: Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and backed a pro-Russian insurgency in eastern Ukraine before carrying out a full-scale invasion in 2022. Russia now occupies about 20 percent of Ukraine.
Minerals deal: Ukraine’s valuable mineral resources have become a prominent component in the maneuvering over the country’s future after Trump pushed the idea of trading U.S. aid for Ukrainian minerals. The U.S. treasury secretary was in Kyiv for talks about a possible deal.
At the front: Our reporters interviewed Russian soldiers who said they face a brutal battle to dislodge Ukrainian forces from the Kursk region inside Russia. Trapped civilians fear catastrophe.
