US President Donald Trump spoke about ending the Ukraine-Russia war with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the US leader said in a statement on Truth Social on Wednesday.
"We both agreed, we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine," Trump wrote. "President Putin even used my very strong Campaign motto of, “COMMON SENSE.” We both believe very strongly in it."
Putin "agreed with Trump that a long-term settlement could be reached through peaceful negotiations," according to a Kremlin statement.
"We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling President Zelensky of Ukraine to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now," Trump said in a post on his social media platform.
Ukraine-Russia negotiations
Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke on the phone for around an hour on Wednesday evening.
"Just spoke with Donald Trump. We had a long conversation about the possibilities of achieving peace, our readiness to work together at the team level, and our technological capabilities," Zelensky wrote on his Telegram channel. "Grateful to President Trump for his interest in what we can do together."
Zelensky said that Trump informed him of the details of his conversation with Putin.
"Ukraine wants peace more than anyone," Zelensky wrote. "We are determining our joint steps with America to stop Russian aggression and guarantee a reliable, lasting peace. As President Trump said, let’s get it done."
Trump said that he was pleased with how the conversation went.
"He, like President Putin, wants to make PEACE," Trump wrote on Truth Social. We discussed a variety of topics having to do with the War, but mostly, the meeting that is being set up on Friday in Munich, where Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead the Delegation.
Zelensky has previously objected to peace talks without him being present.
“If there will be direct talks between America and Russia without Ukraine, it is very dangerous, I think,” Zelenskyy said, according to a Saturday Associated Press interview. “They may have their own relations, but talking about Ukraine without us — it is dangerous for everyone,” he said.
However, he said on Tuesday that he'd be willing to do a land swap, something that he has previously refused to do.
"We will swap one territory for another," Zelensky said to the Guardian, implying that he would trade land in Russia's Kursk region for Ukranian territory.
This comes after Trump said on Tuesday that Ukraine could become part of Russian territory if Zelensky did not make a deal.
“They (Ukraine) may make a deal, they may not make a deal. They may be Russian someday, or they may not be Russian someday,” he said, according to CNN.
He also said that he wanted a return of sorts on US financial assistance in Ukraine.
“I told them that I want the equivalent, like $500 billion of rare earth, and they’ve essentially agreed to do that, so at least we don’t feel stupid. Otherwise, we’re stupid. I said to them, we have to get something. We can’t continue to pay this money," he said, as reported by CNN.
Zelensky told the AP that he believed that he would like to speak to Trump one-on-one before talking to any Russian negotiators.
"I would like to see the United States, Ukraine, and Russians at the negotiating table because they are fighting against us. And the European Union voice has to be present," he said.
Trump further claimed that the two agreed to meet face-to-face soon.
The Kremlin corroborated this, stating that Putin "invited the US president to visit Moscow and expressed his readiness to receive American officials in Russia in those areas of mutual interest, including, of course, the topic of the Ukrainian settlement."
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday that she was not aware of any preconditions for Trump and Putin to visit each other's nations.
"Not that I'm aware of. That doesn't mean they don't exist," Leavitt said, when asked at a regular news briefing if there were conditions the proposed visits.
"I was just talking with the president and our national security team, I wasn't made aware of any conditions," she added.
The two also agreed to maintain mutual contact, according to Peskov. He said that the conversation lasted nearly an hour and a half.
Trump asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, National Security Advisor Michael Walz, and Ambassador and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to lead the negotiations between the two nations, which have been engaged in an all-out war since 2022.
European reactions
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Wednesday that it was an overdue step that Russia's President Vladimir Putin is ready to negotiate to end the war in Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters in Paris at a meeting of foreign ministers from Ukraine and its allies, Baerbock said it was important that Putin was finally prepared to negotiate and that Europe would stand united in any talks.
"We have been ready for the last three years for peace, unlike Russian President Putin," she said.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that Europe would play its role in offering security guarantees for Ukraine even if NATO membership is not immediate.
Speaking from the meeting in Paris, he also said there would be no just peace for Ukraine in its war with Russia without Europeans being associated with negotiations and that it was up to Ukrainians to decide the parameters of a peace accord.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said that nothing must be decided on Ukraine without Ukraine and Europe.
He also said that "we need a just peace for everyone" and that a war of aggression cannot be allowed to succeed.
Reuters contributed to this report.