The US president made the comment after speaking on the phone with both the Ukrainian and Russian leaders on Wednesday
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky is eager to put an end to the hostilities with Russia, US President Donald Trump has stated. He added that Russian President Vladimir Putin would also like to resolve the conflict.
In recent months, Trump has on multiple occasions pledged to bring the two belligerents to the negotiating table to secure a peace deal.
In a post on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday, Trump said that he “just spoke” to Zelensky, adding that “he, like President Putin, wants to make PEACE.” The US head of state said that a meeting was “being set up on Friday in Munich,” with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio leading the US delegation. He expressed hope that the negotiations would yield “positive” results.
“God bless the people of Russia and Ukraine!” Trump concluded.
Earlier in the day, Putin and Trump held a phone call, which the US president described as “lengthy and highly productive.” The two leaders touched on the “great benefit that we will someday have in working together.”
“We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately,” Trump concluded.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the conversation lasted nearly 90 minutes, adding that the two presidents agreed that the time had come for Moscow and Washington to work together.
Back in 2022, Zelensky issued a decree banning negotiations with Putin. However, earlier this month, the Ukrainian leader appeared to flip-flop on the issue, telling British journalist Piers Morgan that he “will go… for this meeting” if that proves to be the “only setup in which we can bring peace to the citizens of Ukraine.”
Putin argued late last month that Zelensky does not have the legitimacy to cancel his earlier decree because his presidential term expired last May. The Kremlin no longer considers him the legitimate head of state. Zelensky has refused to hold elections, citing martial law.
READ MORE: Kremlin comments on talks with ‘illegitimate’ Zelensky
“It’s possible to negotiate with anyone. However, due to his illegitimacy, [Zelensky] has no right to sign anything,” the Russian president said. He pointed out that any potential agreement between Moscow and Kiev must be legally impeccable.
Earlier this month, Peskov confirmed that the “Russian side remains open to negotiations” with Ukraine despite Zelensky’s dubious legal status.
