Trump told Zelensky he wants to end war ASAP in call
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Zelensky and Trump last December at Mar-a-Lago. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
President Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky he wants to push for an end of the war with Russia as soon as possible, according to a Ukrainian official and two other sources with knowledge of the call.
Why it matters: Trump wants a peace deal by the summer, but there are still significant gaps between Ukraine and Russia, particularly on the issue of territorial control in eastern Ukraine.
Driving the news: The 30-minute call was the first conversation between Trump and Zelensky since they met in Davos at the end of January.
- The call took place a day after the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and one day before Trump's envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff will meet with Zelensky's negotiating team in Geneva.
- Kushner and Witkoff were also on Wednesday's call with Zelensky.
- Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev might also be in Geneva on Thursday for separate talks with the U.S. envoys, a source with knowledge said.
Behind the scenes: The three sources said the call between Trump and Zelensky was very friendly and positive.
- A Ukrainian official and another source said Zelensky thanked Trump for all his help and said only Trump can get Putin to stop the war.
- "Zelensky then said he hopes the war will finish this year, and Trump replied that the war has been going on for far too long and said he would like the war to end in a month," one of the sources said.
- The White House didn't respond to a request for comment.
Zoom in: One of the issues Zelensky and Trump discussed was a possible trilateral leaders summit.
- Zelensky told Axios last week that the remaining gaps on the territorial issue can be bridged through direct talks between himself, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
- Trump told Zelensky he will work on making such a trilateral summit happen if the next meeting between U.S., Russian and Ukrainian negotiators, planned for early March, makes more progress.
- "We expect this meeting to create an opportunity to move talks to the leaders' level. President Trump supports this sequence of steps. This is the only way to resolve all the complex and sensitive issues and finally end the war." Zelensky wrote on X.
- A Ukrainian official said Trump reiterated his willingness to give Ukraine significant U.S. security guarantees as part of a potential peace deal with Russia.
