The White House is optimistic that peace is within reach even as Ukrainian President Zelenskyy remains skeptical that Putin is doing much beyond paying lip service to Trump as Russian forces continue to pound his country.
The engagement is just the latest turn in dramatically shifting U.S.-Russia relations as Trump made quickly ending the conflict a top priority.
“It’s a bad situation in Russia, and it’s a bad situation in Ukraine,” Trump told reporters on Monday. “What’s happening in Ukraine is not good, but we’re going to see if we can work a peace agreement, a ceasefire and peace. And I think we’ll be able to do it.”
In preparation for the Trump-Putin call, White House special envoy Steve Witcoff met last week with Putin in Moscow to discuss the proposal. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had persuaded senior Ukrainian officials during talks in Saudi Arabia to agree to the ceasefire framework.
The U.S. president said Washington and Moscow have already begun discussing “dividing up certain assets" between Ukraine and Russia as part of a deal to end the conflict.
