Trump Reports Progress in Ending Ukraine War Following Phone Call with Putin

Donald Trump, the President of the United States, announced progress in ending the Ukraine war following a phone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. On Wednesday, February 24, Trump stated in a message on Truth Social, his own social media platform, that various topics were discussed during the call, including the Ukraine war, the Middle East, energy, artificial intelligence, and the strength of the US dollar. He said, 'We agreed to immediately designate our teams to begin negotiations, and we will start this process by contacting Volodymyr Zelensky, the President of Ukraine, to inform him of this discussion; something I will do right now.' The Kremlin has yet to comment on the phone call between the two presidents, but Putin had previously stated he was not willing to return the seized territories of Ukraine. Trump also mentioned that he had contacted Volodymyr Zelensky, the President of Ukraine. The US President further clarified that he had asked Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, John Ratcliffe, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Michael Waltz, the National Security Advisor, along with Steve Witkoff, the Ambassador and Special Envoy of the United States, to lead these negotiations: 'Negotiations that I seriously feel will be successful. Millions have died in a war that would never have happened if I were President. But this war has happened, so it must end. No more lives should be lost.' He stated, 'In the phone call with Putin, we both reflected on the great history of our nations and pointed out the millions of Russian casualties and the many American deaths in World War II, acknowledging that we fought successfully together.' Trump also mentioned that he discussed 'the great benefits that we will one day have from cooperating with each other' with his Russian counterpart: 'But first, as we both agreed, we want to end the millions of deaths in the Russia-Ukraine war.' Trump continued to clarify that Putin even used his very strong campaign slogan, 'Common Sense,' during the phone call, claiming that 'we both firmly believe in it.' The White House also announced yesterday that Witkoff, who had traveled to Russia, returned to the United States along with Mark Fogel, an American prisoner in that country. Trump concluded his message on Truth by thanking his Russian counterpart for the release of this imprisoned teacher in Russia. Meanwhile, the Kremlin announced that Russia will never exchange the occupied territories of Ukraine for parts of the Kursk region that are under the control of the Ukrainian army. This reaction came in response to a proposal by Volodymyr Zelensky, the President of Ukraine, who considered land exchange as one of the ways to end the war. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, emphasized that Russia firmly rejects such plans and will drive Ukrainian forces out of the occupied areas in Kursk. Last summer, the Ukrainian army captured about 1,300 square kilometers of this border province of Russia, but Russia has so far regained half of these areas. Intense fighting in this region continues, and Russia has deployed a large number of military forces, including North Korean soldiers, to the area to fully reclaim it. Many analysts believe that Moscow intends to strengthen its positions in Kursk before any potential negotiations. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegst stated that Ukraine's membership in NATO is unrealistic and suggested that Kyiv negotiate for a peace agreement instead of reclaiming all occupied territories, which would be supported by the deployment of international forces. Hegst also emphasized that the Trump administration seeks to increase Europe's role in financing and militarily supporting Ukraine, and potential peacekeeping forces would not include American soldiers. He added that these forces would not be under the protection of NATO's Article 5, meaning that NATO member countries would not be obligated to support them in the event of conflict with Russia. Putin had previously stated that any peace agreement must include Ukraine's renunciation of NATO membership and the withdrawal of its forces from the four regions that Russia annexed in 2022.