U.S. President Donald Trump revealed details of a phone call he had with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, saying it included an agreement to start working to immediately stop the war in Ukraine.
Trump said, "We discussed Ukraine, the Middle East, energy, artificial intelligence, the strength of the dollar, and many other topics.
He added, "We both thought about the great history of our countries and the fact that we fought together successfully in World War II. We remembered that Russia lost tens of millions of people, and similarly, we lost many! Each of us talked about the strengths of our countries and the great benefits we will gain one day from working together.
Trump continued, "But first, as we both agreed, we want to stop the deaths occurring in the war with Russia and Ukraine," adding, "We agreed to work closely together, including visiting each other's countries. We also agreed that our teams will start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by contacting President Zelensky to inform him of the conversation, which I will do now.
He further stated, "I have asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, and Ambassador and Special Envoy Steve Whitkov to lead the negotiations, which I strongly feel will be successful.
The U.S. President added, "Millions of people have died in a war that would not have happened if I were president, but it did happen, so it must end. No more lives should be lost.
He concluded by saying, "I want to thank President Putin for his time and effort regarding this call and for the release of Mark Vogel yesterday, a great man whom I personally welcomed last night at the White House. I believe this effort will lead to a successful conclusion, hopefully soon.
For his part, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump had a phone call that lasted about an hour and a half.
Peskov said, "The presidents discussed the issue of exchanging Russian and American citizens over the phone, and Trump assured Putin that the United States would implement all agreements reached regarding this exchange." He added that "the leaders also discussed the situation in Ukraine."