(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin about ending the war in Ukraine, which started three years ago when Putin’s forces launched a full-scale invasion.
“I just had a lengthy and highly productive phone call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia,” Trump wrote in a lengthy post on his conservative social media platform. “We discussed Ukraine, the Middle East, Energy, Artificial Intelligence, the power of the Dollar, and various other subjects.”
On Ukraine, Trump said he and Putin “agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other’s Nations.”
“We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling President Zelenskyy, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now,” Trump said. A source confirmed to ABC News that Trump and Zelenskyy were speaking by phone.
Trump added, “President Putin even used my very strong Campaign motto of, “COMMON SENSE.” We both believe very strongly in it.”
The discussion between Trump and Putin lasted an hour and a half, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
“President Trump spoke in favor of an early end to hostilities and a peaceful solution to the problem. 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,” Peskov told reporters.
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy has demanded full territorial liberation, and earlier this week signaled a willingness to swap territory with Russia.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said earlier Wednesday that a return to Ukraine’s pre-war borders is an “unrealistic objective” in peace talks, as was NATO membership for Ukraine.
The comments were made at his first meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a coalition of countries working to support Kyiv, in Brussels.
“President Trump has been clear with the American people — and with many of your leaders — that stopping the fighting and reaching an enduring peace is a top priority,” Hegseth told leaders.
Trump has long maintained, and repeated in his post Wednesday, that the war in Ukraine would never have happened had he been president.
He also thanked Putin for the release of Marc Fogel, an American teacher who had been serving a 14-year prison sentence in Russia after being arrested on drug charges in 2021. Fogel arrived at the White House late Tuesday night.
ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.
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