Washington — President Trump said Wednesday that he had a “great conversation” with Russian President Vladimir Putin, again suggesting that he believes the Kremlin leader is prepared to pursue an agreement to bring the war in Ukraine to an end.
The call, which Russian officials said happened Tuesday, followed a burst of diplomacy involving senior Trump envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, who sat down with Putin in Moscow and also met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv over the weekend.
“We had a great conversation,” Mr. Trump told reporters Wednesday on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews. “He is wanting to make a deal. And if Zelenskyy is wanting to make a deal, that would be very nice.”
Mr. Trump has repeatedly argued that Putin is interested in negotiating an end to the fighting, even as Russia retains the ability to withdraw its forces and give up occupied territory at any time. Asked by a reporter what is preventing progress, the president pointed to the bitter divide between the two wartime leaders.
“The holdup is two people that hate each other,” Mr. Trump said. “I think more than anything else, it’s two people that hate each other.”
The White House did not issue its own readout of the Trump-Putin call or formally confirm that the conversation took place, leaving Moscow’s version as the only official description released publicly.
In the Russian account, Mr. Trump told Putin that ending the Ukraine conflict could quickly create an opening to fully restore U.S.-Russia relations. The readout also said the president expressed interest in securing a breakthrough on the war during his time in office.
Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, told reporters Sunday that the president has been monitoring the diplomatic talks “very closely” as he works to “find a pathway to end this war.” The trip marked the first visit to Ukraine by Kushner and Witkoff since Mr. Trump took office in January 2025. Zelenskyy said the talks were aimed at achieving a “just, fair peace” that would prevent Russia from launching future attacks on Ukraine, and he said Tuesday that he could meet with Mr. Trump later this month.
Putin and Zelenskyy ordered a pause in fighting while Kushner and Witkoff held their talks in both countries. But Russia resumed its attacks on Kyiv on Tuesday morning, killing at least two people.
The conversations come as Lithuania, which borders Russia-friendly Belarus, trains civilians to stand up to Russian aggression, should it arrive at their doorstep.
Mikhail Metzel/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool Photo via AP
Mr. Trump pledged to end the war in Ukraine by his first day in office, but he has admitted publicly that achieving that goal has been more challenging than anticipated, and said the pledge was “figurative” or an “exaggeration.” He is approaching 20 months in office.
