President Donald Trump upended three years of U.S. policy toward Ukraine on Wednesday, saying that he and Russian leader Vladimir Putin had agreed to begin negotiations on ending the war following a sudden prisoner swap.
Trump said he spent more than an hour on the phone with Putin and “I think we’re on the way to getting peace.”
“I think President Putin wants peace and President Zelenskyy wants peace and I want peace,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “I just want to see people stop being killed.”
Of his conversation with Putin, Trump said, “People didn’t know what President Putin’s thoughts were. But I think I can say with great confidence, he wants to see it ended also, so that’s good — and we’re going to work toward getting it ended and as fast as possible.”
Trump noted that he would “probably” meet in person with Putin in the near term, suggesting that could happen in Saudi Arabia.
Asked specifically about Ukraine being an equal member of the peace process, Trump responded, “Interesting question. I think they have to make peace.”
In another blow to Ukraine’s Western-leaning aspirations, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at NATO headquarters in Brussels that NATO membership was unrealistic for Ukraine.
“I don’t think it’s practical to have it, personally,” Trump said later about NATO membership for Ukraine. He added that Hegseth had said “it’s unlikely or impractical. I think probably that’s true.”
Trump said Wednesday of Russia: “I think long before President Putin, they said there’s no way they’d allow that.”
”They’ve been saying that for a long time that Ukraine cannot go into NATO,” Trump said. “And I’m OK with that.”
