Sawt Falasteen - Trump speaks to Putin, says Ukraine talks to start 'immediately'

Trump described the call as "lengthy and highly productive" in a post on Truth Social, saying that the two leaders had even agreed to visit each other's nations to address the deep tensions since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The Kremlin separately said the call lasted nearly one-and-a-half hours and that Putin and Trump had agreed that the "time has come to work together," with a long-term solution for the Ukraine war in reach.

"I just had a lengthy and highly productive phone call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia," Trump said, adding that they had discussed Ukraine, the Middle East, artificial intelligence and other subjects.

He said they agreed that "we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine" -- with Trump using an unconfirmed figure for the toll in the Ukraine conflict.

"We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other’s Nations," said Trump. "We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately" on Ukraine.

Trump had promised to end the Ukraine war before taking office and has been pushing for a peace settlement while remaining coy until now about any possible contact with Putin.

But in a sign that Ukraine could see its fate decided by Washington and Moscow, Trump said that "we will begin by calling President Zelensky, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation."

The Ukrainian presidency later confirmed that Zelensky had a phone call with Trump.

Zelensky has been trying to keep on the right side of Trump and maintain US support while pushing his own nation's demands for peace with Russia.

- 'Stopping hostilities' -

There had been earlier signs of a thaw this week with a prisoner swap deal that saw Moscow free US teacher Marc Fogel while Washington released Russian cryptocurrency kingpin Alexander Vinnik.

Trump heaped praise on the Russian president in his Truth Social post, saying that Putin "even used my very strong Campaign motto of, 'COMMON SENSE.'"

The Kremlin's statement was more measured, saying that Putin "agreed with Trump that a long-term settlement could be reached through peace negotiations."

"President Trump spoke in favor of stopping hostilities as soon as possible and solving the problem by peaceful means," Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in his readout of the call.

Putin stressed any settlement would need to "address the root causes of the conflict," Peskov said, without elaborating.

Trump said he had asked US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff "to lead the negotiations which, I feel strongly, will be successful."

Zelensky this week floated the idea of exchanging occupied land but Russia rejected the proposal, hours after launching a fresh barrage of drones and missiles on Kyiv.

He is due to meet US Vice President JD Vance on Friday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, where the Ukrainian leader said he hoped to finalize an economic agreement with Washington.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth had earlier laid out Trump's red lines to Washington's allies on Wednesday, saying that trying to return Ukraine to its pre-2014 borders was an "illusionary goal" that would extend the fighting.

The US defense chief also said security guarantees would be needed for Ukraine but that NATO membership was "not realistic."

M.AbuKhalil--SF-PST