Putin and Trump speak by phone: LIVE UPDATES
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart Donald Trump had a phone conversation on Wednesday, both Moscow and Washington have confirmed. The talk lasted for about an hour and a half, during which the two leaders discussed a broad range of issues, primarily the Ukraine conflict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
The phone call turned out to be “lengthy and highly productive,” Trump said in a post on his Truth social media platform. “We discussed Ukraine, the Middle East, Energy, Artificial Intelligence, the power of the Dollar, and various other subjects,” the US president wrote.
The two leaders have agreed they “want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine,” Trump said, announcing an “immediate” start of negotiations to resolve the Ukraine conflict.
Wednesday’s
call represents the first official top-level contact between Moscow and
Washington since Trump took office in January. While phone
conversations between Trump and Putin have been rumored for weeks, none
have been officially confirmed, with both sides stating only they had
been maintaining contact through various unspecified government
channels.
12 February 2025
17:59 GMTThe Trump-Putin talks were followed closely by a conversation between the US leader and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky. According to Kiev, the conversation lasted for about an hour.
- 17:47 GMT
Both leaders backed the idea of resolving the Ukraine conflict through diplomacy, Peskov has said in a comment to Russian media.
“President Trump spoke in favor of a speedy end to hostilities and a peaceful resolution to the problem. President Putin, for his part, stressed the need to eliminate the root causes of the conflict and agreed with Trump that a long-term settlement could be achieved through peace talks,” the Kremlin spokesman stated. - 17:46 GMT
Putin has invited Trump to visit Moscow, Peskov has confirmed without providing any time frame on when a potential trip could happen.
- 17:46 GMT
“We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately,” he said, adding that they will begin by calling Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky “to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now.”
According to Trump, the Russian and American leaders have also agreed to “work together, very closely, including visiting each other’s Nations.”