Trump says he and Putin agreed to begin talks on ending war in Ukraine

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 in a social media post that he and Putin held a lengthy phone call and committed to “work together, very closely” to bring the conflict to an end and would meet in person, including perhaps in each other’s countries.

Trump subsequently announced that he’d also spoken with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but only after his talk with Putin. After the calls, White House officials declined to clarify whether Ukraine would be a party to the U.S. negotiations.

That sent a potentially dramatic signal that Washington and Moscow might work to hammer out a deal to end fighting in Ukraine by going around that country’s government. Doing so would break with the Biden administration, which steadfastly insisted Kyiv would be a full participant in any decisions made.

In another blow to Ukraine’s aspirations, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at NATO headquarters in Brussels that NATO membership was unrealistic for Ukraine, it should abandon hopes of winning all its territory back from Russia and any security guarantees for Kyiv would have to be borne by European countries.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the Biden administration had joined other NATO members in vowing that membership in the Western military alliance was “inevitable.”

Zelenskyy sought to put a brave face on what many in Ukraine will see as a major disappointment. In a social media post, he said he had “a meaningful conversation" with Trump that included discussion of “opportunities to achieve peace” and Kyiv’s “readiness to work together at the team level.”

“I am grateful to President Trump,” he said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the conversation between Trump and Putin covered a good deal of ground, including the Middle East and Iran, but that Ukraine was the main focus.

Peskov said Trump called for a quick cessation of hostilities and a peaceful settlement, and that “President Putin, in his turn, emphasized the need to remove the root causes of the conflict and agreed with Trump that a long-term settlement could be achieved through peace talks.”

“The Russian president supported one of the main theses of the U.S. president that the time has come for our two countries to work together,” Peskov told reporters. “The Russian president invited the U.S. president to visit Moscow and expressed readiness to host U.S. officials in Russia for issues of mutual interest, naturally including Ukraine, the Ukrainian settlement.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said of Trump’s conversations with both Putin and Zelenskyy: “They were very good calls. They were very positive.”

But when she was asked specifically about the administration’s views on Ukraine’s NATO membership, she said only that she had not spoken to Trump about it.

“I believe this nation views Putin and Russia as a great competitor in the region. At times, an adversary,” Leavitt said. She also noted of Trump: “At times, he enjoys having good diplomatic relationships with leaders around the world.”

Still, working more closely with Putin on Ukraine directly defies Biden, who, together with his top national security aides, repeatedly insisted, “Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.”

Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s special Russia-Ukraine envoy, retired Gen. Keith Kellogg, will all be in Germany this week for the annual Munich Security Conference, which Zelenskyy also will attend. Leavitt said discussions will continue then.

Wednesday’s Trump-Putin call and the resulting policy sea change followed a prisoner swap that resulted in Russia releasing Pennsylvania schoolteacher Marc Fogel after more than three years of detention in return for convicted Russian criminal Alexander Vinnik.

The White House has described the prisoner swap as evidence of a diplomatic thaw that could advance negotiations to end the fighting in Ukraine.

In a social media post detailing his call with Putin, Trump wrote, “We each talked about the strengths of our respective Nations, and the great benefit that we will someday have in working together."

“But first, as we both agreed, we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine,” Trump wrote.

Trump said he and Putin also “agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately.” He appointed Rubio, CIA director John Ratcliffe, national security adviser Michael Waltz and his special Mideast envoy Steven Witkoff to lead those talks.

Leavitt didn’t comment on whether Ukraine came up during the prisoner swap.

Fogel, who was deemed wrongfully detained by Russia , was arrested in August 2021 for possession of marijuana and was serving a 14-year prison sentence. He had been left out of previous prisoner swaps with Russia that were negotiated by the Biden administration.

Vinnik — the other person involved, according to two U.S. officials — was arrested in 2017 in Greece at the request of the U.S. on cryptocurrency fraud charges and was later extradited to the United States, where he pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to commit money laundering.

He is in custody in California awaiting transport to Russia, the officials said. The Kremlin confirmed that a Russian citizen was freed in the United States in exchange for Fogel but refused to identify him until he arrives in Russia.

Trump welcomed Fogel at the White House on Tuesday evening after his return to the U.S. on Witkoff's personal plane. On Wednesday, Trump declined to say if he spoke with Putin about Fogel and didn't say what the United States had provided in exchange for Fogel’s release.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump suggested that Fogel’s release could help anchor a peace deal on Ukraine, saying: “We were treated very nicely by Russia, actually. I hope that’s the beginning of a relationship where we can end that war.”

AP reporter Eric Tucker contributed from Washington.

周三，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普推翻了美国三年来对乌克兰的政策，称他和俄罗斯领导人弗拉基米尔·普京已同意在突然交换战俘后开始就结束战争进行谈判。

特朗普在社交媒体上发帖称，他和普京进行了长时间的通话，并承诺“密切合作”以结束冲突，还将举行会晤，包括可能在对方的国家举行会晤。

随后，特朗普宣布他也与乌克兰总统泽连斯基通了电话，但那是在他与普京通话之后。通话结束后，白宫官员拒绝澄清乌克兰是否会参与美国的谈判。

这发出了一个可能具有戏剧性的信号：华盛顿和莫斯科或许会绕过乌克兰政府，试图达成一项结束乌克兰冲突的协议。这样做将与拜登政府的立场相悖，拜登政府一直坚持基辅必须全面参与任何决策。

对乌克兰的愿望而言，又一次打击是国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯在布鲁塞尔北约总部表示，加入北约对乌克兰来说是不现实的，乌克兰应该放弃从俄罗斯手中夺回所有领土的希望，任何对基辅的安全保障都必须由欧洲国家承担。

自俄罗斯于 2022 年 2 月入侵乌克兰以来，拜登政府与其他北约成员国一道誓言，加入这个西方军事联盟是“不可避免的”。

泽连斯基试图强颜欢笑，掩盖许多乌克兰人眼中的重大失望。他在社交媒体上发文称，他与特朗普进行了“有意义的对话”，讨论了“实现和平的机会”以及基辅“在团队层面开展合作的意愿”。

他说：“我感谢特朗普总统。”

克里姆林宫发言人德米特里·佩斯科夫表示，特朗普和普京的谈话涵盖了许多方面，包括中东和伊朗问题，但乌克兰是主要焦点。

佩斯科夫表示，特朗普呼吁迅速停止敌对行动并和平解决冲突，“而普京总统则强调需要消除冲突的根源，并同意特朗普的观点，即可以通过和平谈判达成长期解决方案。”

佩斯科夫告诉记者：“俄罗斯总统支持美国总统的主要论点之一，即现在是我们两国携手合作的时候了。俄罗斯总统邀请美国总统访问莫斯科，并表示愿意接待美国官员来俄讨论共同关心的问题，当然也包括乌克兰问题及其解决方案。”

白宫新闻秘书卡罗琳·莱维特在谈到特朗普与普京和泽连斯基的通话时说：“通话非常好，气氛非常积极。”

但当被问及美国政府对乌克兰加入北约的看法时，她只表示自己没有就此与特朗普交谈过。

“我认为美国将普京和俄罗斯视为该地区的强大竞争对手，有时甚至是敌人，”莱维特说。她还提到特朗普：“他有时乐于与世界各国领导人保持良好的外交关系。”

然而，与普京在乌克兰问题上更紧密地合作，直接违背了拜登的意愿。拜登和他的高级国家安全顾问们曾多次坚持：“没有乌克兰，就不要谈乌克兰。”

副总统万斯、国务卿卢比奥以及特朗普的俄乌问题特使、退役将军基思·凯洛格本周都将前往德国参加一年一度的慕尼黑安全会议，泽连斯基也将出席。利维特表示，会谈将在会后继续进行。

周三特朗普与普京的通话以及由此引发的政策巨变，源于一次囚犯交换。俄罗斯释放了被拘留三年多的宾夕法尼亚州教师马克·福格尔，以换取被定罪的俄罗斯罪犯亚历山大·维尼克。

白宫称此次换俘行动是外交关系缓和的迹象，有望推动结束乌克兰冲突的谈判。

特朗普在社交媒体上发帖详细描述了他与普京的通话，他写道：“我们各自谈到了我们国家的优势，以及我们将来合作将带来的巨大好处。”

“但首先，正如我们双方所同意的，我们希望阻止在与俄罗斯/乌克兰的战争中造成的数百万人死亡，”特朗普写道。

特朗普表示，他和普京还“同意双方团队立即开始谈判”。他任命卢比奥、中央情报局局长约翰·拉特克利夫、国家安全顾问迈克尔·沃尔兹以及他的中东特使史蒂文·威特科夫领导这些谈判。

利维特没有评论在换囚过程中是否提到了乌克兰问题。

福格尔被俄罗斯方面认定为非法拘留，他于2021年8月因持有大麻被捕，并被判处14年监禁。此前，拜登政府曾与俄罗斯谈判达成多项囚犯交换协议，但福格尔均未被纳入其中。

据两名美国官员称，另一名涉案人员维尼克于 2017 年应美国要求在希腊因加密货币欺诈指控被捕，后来被引渡到美国，并于去年承认犯有洗钱共谋罪。

官员称，他目前被关押在加利福尼亚州，等待被引渡回俄罗斯。克里姆林宫证实，一名俄罗斯公民在美国获释，以交换福格尔，但拒绝透露其身份，直到他抵达俄罗斯。

周二晚间，福格尔乘坐维特科夫的私人飞机返回美国后，特朗普在白宫迎接了他。周三，特朗普拒绝透露是否与普京谈及福格尔一事，也未说明美国为换取福格尔获释提供了哪些条件。

特朗普周二对记者表示，福格尔获释可能有助于促成乌克兰和平协议，他说：“事实上，俄罗斯对我们非常友好。我希望这能成为我们结束战争、建立良好关系的开端。”

美联社记者埃里克·塔克从华盛顿报道。