Donald Trump made an announcement on Truth that he and Putin have “agreed to work together, very closely, even visiting each other’s nations. We have also agreed to immediately start negotiations (on Ukraine) with our respective teams, and we will begin by calling Ukrainian President Zelensky to inform him of the conversation, which I will do now. I have asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, and Ambassador and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to lead the negotiations, which I firmly believe will be successful.”
Shortly after, the Ukrainian presidency informed that Zelensky had a phone call with Trump. On his part, Putin invited Trump to Moscow, as confirmed by Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, quoted by the Ria Novosti agency, confirming that the two leaders had a phone call today, lasting about an hour and a half. Putin and Trump have agreed that a “long-term solution” in Ukraine can be reached through negotiations, he added.
“I just had a long and highly productive phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. We discussed Ukraine, the Middle East, energy, artificial intelligence, the power of the dollar, and various other topics,” wrote Donald Trump on Truth, confirming a news that had been anticipated by CNN.
“We both reflected – he wrote on Truth – on the great history of our nations and the fact that we fought so well together in World War II, remembering that Russia lost tens of millions of people and we, in the same way, lost so many! We talked about the strengths of our respective nations and the great advantage we will have one day in working together. But first, as we both agreed, we want to stop the millions of deaths occurring in the war between Russia and Ukraine. President Putin even used my strong campaign motto, ‘common sense.’ We both believe in it very much.”
“Millions of people – Trump continued – have died in a war that would not have happened if I were president, but it happened, so it must end. No more lives should be lost! I want to thank President Putin for the time and effort devoted to this call and for the release, yesterday, of Mark Fogel, a wonderful man whom I personally greeted last night at the White House. I believe this effort will lead to a positive conclusion, hopefully soon!”
The Kremlin neither confirmed nor denied a supposed meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and American envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, who was in Moscow yesterday to escort American citizen Mark Fogel back home. “I have nothing to tell you on this subject, I have no information on this subject for you,” said spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, quoted by the Tass agency.
Peskov emphasized, however, that Moscow rejects a territorial exchange with Ukraine, an hypothesis evoked yesterday by Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview with The Guardian as a possible basis for negotiations. “This is impossible. Russia has never discussed and will never discuss exchanging its territory,” said the Kremlin spokesperson, referring to the Kursk region, partially occupied by the Ukrainian army. Peskov stated that Ukrainian military units currently present in the Russian region of Kursk “will be expelled from this territory, they will be destroyed.”
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Regarding the release of Fogel, the spokesperson indicated that “a Russian citizen currently in prison in the United States will be released and will return home in the coming days.” On the other hand, the New York Times reports that the Trump administration is releasing Alexander Vinnik, a Russian cybercriminal who last year pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering, as an exchange for Fogel’s release, citing a US official familiar with the matter. Vinnik, according to the NYT, is a non-violent criminal (as one of the US conditions required) and is relinquishing tens of millions of dollars in assets in the exchange.
Fox News host Sean Hannity had claimed that special envoy Witkoff, who flew to Moscow on his private plane to negotiate the release of American Fogel, spoke for three and a half hours with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Witkoff goes and apparently talks for 3.5 hours with Putin and brings Fogel back,” the American host said in a phone interview, reported on the US State Department website, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio neither confirming nor denying the meeting.
Zelensky: ‘If we don’t join NATO, we will have to double the soldiers’
If Ukraine is not admitted to NATO, it will have to double the number of its military personnel. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated this in an interview with The Economist, as reported by Rbc Ukraina.
“If Ukraine is not in NATO, it means that Ukraine will build NATO on its territory. So, we need an army as large as the Russians have today. And for all this, we need weapons and money. And we will ask the United States for this,” Zelensky emphasized, defining this a “plan B.”
Ukraine’s accession to NATO is not a “realistic” outcome of the peace agreement with Russia. This was said by the new Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth opening the Ukraine contact group meeting, chaired by Britain. Hegseth added that “we are at a critical moment in the war, the conflict must end. We want a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine, but returning it to the pre-2014 borders is unrealistic.”
“There should be no Minsk 3 in Ukraine, robust security guarantees must be given to ensure that another war does not start, but they must be provided by European and non-European troops, and if there is a peacekeeping mission, it must not be a NATO mission and there must be no Article 5 coverage.” This was said by the new Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth opening the Ukraine contact group meeting, chaired by Britain. Hegseth excluded the presence of US troops.
The US will have as a “future priority the Indo-Pacific,” and Europe in Europe must “take responsibility for conventional defense.” This was said by the new Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth opening the Ukraine contact group meeting, chaired by Britain.
“The US – he added – remains committed to NATO and the security of Europe but will no longer tolerate imbalances,” he added. The defense spending target for NATO must be “above 3%,” said NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, once again urging allies to do “a lot more.”
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The defense spending target for NATO must be “above 3%,” said NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, once again urging allies to do “a lot more.”
“In 2024, NATO allies in Europe and Canada invested $485 billion in defense, an increase of almost 20% compared to 2023, with two-thirds of Allies spending at least 2% of their GDP on defense. I expect even more allies to reach and in many cases exceed the target in 2025. We must do a lot more,” he emphasized.
“We must do a lot more to have what we need for deterrence and defense so that the burden is shared more fairly,” Rutte explained in the presence of the new US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, on his first trip to the Alliance’s headquarters, highlighting repeatedly that if NATO stops at the 2% target “it will not be able to defend itself in five years” and reaffirming the need for “more efforts” in defense spending.
Kallas: ‘Europe must be at the table on Ukraine’
During the “excellent meeting” with US Vice President JD Vance, “I raised the issue of defense but also, of course, Ukraine, emphasizing that Europe must be present at the negotiating table because the outcome will greatly influence us,” said EU High Representative Kaja Kallas in an interview with the European Newsroom, of which ANSA is a part.
“We see some things differently but perhaps more clearly than those who live far away,” she added, specifying that the US is, however, asking “what is our point of view.”
Kallas confirmed that she will meet with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Paris and in the coming days will see Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, General Keith Kellogg, and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.
“We are building our relationships with the new administration and will discuss these issues with them,” she emphasized. “We have the opportunity – she added – to express our position, how we believe the outcome should be and also to warn about the traps that Russia is sowing since Moscow at this moment does not want peace.”
“This is why I emphasized that Europe must be heard because, whatever the agreement, then it must be implemented by Europeans and Ukrainians, and we cannot move forward without us and them: I think our strength is that we are a predictable and reliable partner.”
It remains to be seen if an agreement is possible, also in light of Donald Trump’s statements that Ukraine could become Russian in the future. “Yes, we see the statements coming from the US even if we do not always respond,” emphasized Kallas, according to whom, more than anything else, it is necessary to “observe what the US is doing on Ukraine.”
Ukraine is a sovereign country with its territorial integrity, and according to international law, sovereignty and territorial integrity must always be defended.
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