Putin invites Trump to visit Moscow

13/2/2025 6:13

Donald Trump

discussed the war in Ukraine on Wednesday in phone calls with

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the new U.S. president's first big step

towards diplomacy over a war he has promised to end.



In a post on his social media platform after speaking to

Putin, Trump said they had "agreed to have our respective teams

start negotiations immediately," and that he would begin by

phoning Zelenskiy.



After speaking to the Ukrainian leader, Trump said: "The

conversation went very well. He, like President Putin, wants to

make PEACE."



Zelenskiy's office said Trump and Zelenskiy had spoken by

phone for about an hour, while the Kremlin said Putin's call

with Trump lasted nearly an hour and a half.



"I had a meaningful conversation with @POTUS. We... talked

about opportunities to achieve peace, discussed our readiness to

work together ...and Ukraine's technological capabilities...

including drones and other advanced industries," Zelenskiy wrote

on X.



The Kremlin said Putin and Trump had agreed to meet, and

Putin had invited Trump to visit Moscow.



Trump has long said he would quickly end the war in Ukraine,

without spelling out exactly how he would accomplish this.



Earlier on Wednesday, Trump's Defense 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.



"We want, like you, a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine. But

we must start by recognising that returning to Ukraine's

pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective," Hegseth told a

meeting of Ukraine and more than 40 allies at NATO headquarters

in Brussels. "Chasing this illusionary goal will only prolong

the war and cause more suffering."



Hegseth said any durable peace must include "robust security

guarantees to ensure that the war will not begin again". But he

said U.S. troops would not be deployed to Ukraine as part of

such guarantees.



"The United States does not believe that NATO membership for

Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement".



France, Germany and Spain said Ukraine's fate must not be

decided without Kyiv's active participation, with French Foreign

Minister Jean-Noel Barrot saying Europe would play its role in

offering security guarantees for Ukraine even if NATO membership

were not immediate.







ZELENSKIY OFFERS MINERALS



Zelenskiy, hoping to keep Trump interested in continuing to

support his country, has lately proposed a deal under which the

United States would invest in minerals in Ukraine.



Trump's Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in Kyiv on

Wednesday on the first visit by a cabinet member in the new U.S.

administration, said such a mineral deal could serve as a

"security shield" for Ukraine after the war.



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.



During the war's first year, Ukraine succeeded in pushing

Russian forces back from the outskirts of Kyiv and recapturing

swathes of Russian-occupied territory.



But Moscow has mostly had the upper hand since a failed

Ukrainian counteroffensive in 2023, making slow but steady gains

in intense fighting that has killed or injured hundreds of

thousands of troops on both sides and laid Ukrainian cities to

waste.



Russia occupies around a fifth of Ukraine and has demanded

Kyiv cede more territory and be rendered permanently neutral

under any peace deal. Ukraine demands Russia withdraw from

captured territory and says it must receive NATO membership or

equivalent security guarantees to prevent Moscow from attacking

again.



In recent discussions, Kyiv appears to have accepted that it

will not be admitted to NATO soon but has emphasised its need

for military support under a peace deal.



"If Ukraine is not in NATO, it means that Ukraine will build

NATO on its territory. So we need an army as numerous as the

Russians have today," Zelenskiy said in an interview with The

Economist published on Wednesday.



"And for all this, we need weapons and money. And we will

ask the U.S. for this," Zelenskiy said, describing that as his

"Plan B".