• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Trump Again Says He Wants To Talk With Putin About Ending War In Ukraine

By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service February 01, 2025

U.S President Donald Trump on January 31 said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin could soon talk and announce something significant toward ending the conflict in Ukraine.

"We will be speaking, and I think will perhaps do something that will be significant," Trump told reporters at the White House. "We want to end that war."

He added that his administration has already had "very serious discussions about that war" in an attempt to end it. "It's just a senseless situation and it's got to stop."

Trump did not say who from his administration had been in contact with the Russians but insisted the two sides were "already talking." He declined to say whether he had been involved in those conversations.

Trump said last week that he would like to meet with Putin immediately to secure an end to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Based on what he has heard, Putin would like to see him, he said.

"Everyday we don't meet, soldiers are being killed in the battlefield," he said on January 23.

Keith Kellogg, a retired lieutenant-general tasked with leading negotiations to end the war, told a news conference on January 7 that the groundwork was being laid for Trump and Putin to talk.

He said the terms would be set and "he will eventually get to the position where he'll be talking with Putin" and with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Trump said during last year's election campaign he could end the conflict in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office. He now says he hopes to end the fighting within six months.

He also claimed during the campaign that Russia never would have invaded Ukraine if he had been president and repeated that claim in his remarks on January 31.

Trump has been highly critical of the aid Washington has disbursed to Kyiv and has said Ukraine should have made concessions to Putin in the months before Russia launched the invasion nearly three years ago.

In a recent interview with Russian state television, Putin praised Trump as a "clever and pragmatic man" who is focused on U.S. interests.

"We always had a business-like, pragmatic but also trusting relationship with the current U.S. president," Putin said.

Putin on January 29 ruled out direct peace talks with Zelenskyy. Putin has said he does not consider Zelenskyy the legitimate leader of Ukraine.

An election was to have taken place on March 31, 2024, but was postponed because the country is still under martial law due to the war.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/trump-putin-talks-zelenskiy- zelenskyy-war-/33299246.html

Copyright (c) 2025. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.