Ukraine war: Donald Trump says peace negotiations with Russia to start 'immediately'

12 February 2025, 17:49 | Updated: 13 February 2025, 07:53

Donald Trump says there has been agreement to begin negotiations about ending the war in Ukraine, after holding phone calls with Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

It is the US president's first big step towards diplomacy over a conflict which he promised to end within 24 hours of being inaugurated.

"We both agreed, we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine," Mr Trump posted on Truth Social following discussions with Russia's president.

He said the pair would "work together, very closely" towards winding down the conflict and "agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately".

A Kremlin spokesperson said Mr Putin and Mr Trump had agreed to meet, with the Russian president inviting the US leader to visit Moscow.

Ukraine latest: Trump's plan to end war

"President Putin, for his part, mentioned the need to eliminate the root causes of the conflict and agreed with Trump that a long-term settlement can be achieved through peaceful negotiations," said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's president wrote on X that he had a "meaningful conversation" by phone with Mr Trump to discuss "opportunities to achieve peace" and the preparation of a document governing security and economic cooperation.

"No one wants peace more than Ukraine. Together with the US, we are charting our next steps to stop Russian aggression and ensure a lasting, reliable peace," he said.

Mr Trump added that his phone conversation with Mr Zelenskyy "went very well", suggesting that "he [Mr Zelenskyy], like President Putin, wants to make PEACE".

On social media, the US president said: "It is time to stop this ridiculous War, where there has been massive, and totally unnecessary, DEATH and DESTRUCTION. God bless the people of Russia and Ukraine!"

On Wednesday, the US defence secretary delivered a blunt statement on the new US administration's approach to the nearly three-year-old war.