Trump and Putin set to meet in Saudi Arabia on Ukraine

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump revealed Wednesday he expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saudi Arabia for Ukraine peace talks, in an extraordinary thaw in relations after a surprise phone call between the two leaders.

In their first confirmed contact since Trump’s return to the White House, the US president said he had held a “lengthy and highly productive” conversation with the Russian counterpart who ordered the bloody 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

But the move sparked concerns that Ukraine will be left out of talks on its own fate, after Trump said Kyiv’s wish to join NATO was not “practical” — a key demand of Moscow.

Trump, who has been pushing for a quick end to the nearly three-year war, denied that Ukraine was being excluded from the direct negotiations between the two nuclear-armed superpowers.

“We expect that he’ll come here, and I’ll go there — and we’re going to meet probably in Saudi Arabia the first time,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office about his plans to meet Putin.

Trump said he expected it to happen “in the not-too-distant future” and added that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — who played a key role in a Russia-US prisoner exchange this week — would also be involved.

The Kremlin said the call lasted nearly one-and-a-half hours. The two leaders had agreed that the “time has come to work together” and that Putin has invited Trump to Moscow, it said.

Before taking office on January 20, Trump had promised to end the Ukraine war “within 24 hours”.

‘Make peace’

Trump took the world by surprise as he announced the phone call on his Truth Social platform earlier, saying he and Putin had “both agreed, we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine,” using an unconfirmed figure for the toll in the conflict.

The US president said they had agreed to “work together very closely, including visiting each other’s Nations” and to “have our respective teams start negotiations immediately” on Ukraine.

Trump later called Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was not included on the call with Putin.

Zelensky said afterwards that he had a “meaningful” call with Trump in which he had “shared details” of his talks with Putin.

Trump said after the conversation that Zelensky “like President Putin, wants to make PEACE.”

Andriy Yermak, head of Kyiv’s presidential office, said in televised comments that Zelensky and Trump had agreed to “immediately” start work on the high-level teams from each side who will try to hash out a deal.

The teams will “begin a process of daily work” and Zelensky and his officials will meet US officials involved at the Munich Security Conference in a day’s time, Yermak said.

But Trump’s call with Putin has raised concerns that the United States was agreeing to Russia’s terms.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth told European counterparts earlier Wednesday that Ukraine’s dream of returning to its pre-2014 borders was an “illusionary goal” — and that Kyiv’s wish for NATO membership was “not realistic.”

Both are key demands of Moscow.

Trump denied that Zelensky was being frozen out, and rejected criticism that Hegseth’s comments meant Washington was agreeing to Russia’s preconditions.

Yermak meanwhile reiterated Kyiv’s stance that Ukraine’s “independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty” cannot be subject to compromise.

The Ukrainian leader is calling for tough security guarantees from Washington as part of any deal with Russia. Trump has meanwhile suggested a deal for Kyiv’s rare earth minerals in exchange for its continued military aid.

Zelensky is due to meet US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday at the Munich Security Conference, after meeting US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Kyiv on Wednesday.

What Kremlin Says

The Kremlin’s statement on the call with Trump was more measured.

It said Putin “agreed with Trump that a long-term settlement could be reached through peace negotiations” but said he wanted to “address the root causes of the conflict,” which Russia blames on western influence on Kyiv.

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

The French, German and Spanish foreign ministers insisted Wednesday that there could be “no just and lasting peace” without the involvement of Kyiv and its European partners.