Donald Trump has begun to fulfill his promises. Just days before the three-year anniversary of the start of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, Trump spoke with Vladimir Putin and then with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. This is the first confirmed contact between Putin and Trump since the beginning of the US president's second term. "We have reached an agreement to work together and that each of us will visit the other country. We also agreed that our two teams will begin negotiations immediately," Trump wrote in a short message on Truth Social after the phone call with Putin.
Zelensky also made a comment. According to him, the conversation he had with Trump was "important" - the US president explained to him what he had commented on with Putin, and the preparation of a new document for partnership in the fields of security, economy and resources was also discussed. The Ukrainian president recently promised to supply the US with rare earth metals.
First important moment - the Munich Security Conference
Before the meeting between Trump and Putin takes place, however, diplomatic preparations will be made. The first step is this Friday, when US Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with Zelensky during the Munich Security Conference.
At the same time, concerns are growing both in Kiev and elsewhere that Ukraine could be left behind during these negotiations. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other Western politicians have repeatedly stressed that Ukrainians must decide their own future. Trump said that he does not expect Zelensky to remain isolated from the process.
Problematic statements also from the Pentagon
On Wednesday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth seriously dashed the hopes of Ukrainians. During a meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine in Brussels, Hegseth said that the country's accession to NATO was practically out of the question and that the full restoration of Ukraine's borders, which Zelensky has set as a military goal, was unrealistic.
Russia currently controls about 20% of Ukraine's territory, mainly in the east and south of the country, as well as the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014 in violation of international law. In addition to Crimea, Putin also claims large parts of eastern Ukraine as Russian territory.
Hegseth said that a lasting peace must include "solid security guarantees that ensure that the war does not start again." This must be carried out by "capable European and non-European troops," the new US defense secretary said in his first appearance on the international stage. Hegseth stressed that the US will not deploy troops to Ukraine.
Possible meeting in Saudi Arabia
A meeting between Trump and Putin will probably take place only after initial talks at the diplomatic level bear fruit. The US president has pointed to Saudi Arabia as a possible venue. It could be followed by reciprocal visits to Washington and Moscow, he said. However, the exchange of telephone calls must continue before that.
German Foreign Minister Analene Baerbock has called for the Ukrainian position to be taken into account in the negotiations that Trump is talking about. “There can be no solutions for Ukraine without Ukraine”, she stressed today in Paris at the start of talks on Ukraine with several of her European colleagues.
At their meeting in Paris, Europe's top diplomats expressed their readiness to increase their support for Ukraine. "We share the goal of supporting Ukraine until a just, comprehensive and lasting peace is achieved," Baerbock and the foreign ministers of France, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom said after consultations with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaia Kalas and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiha.