US President Donald Trump said he had held a “good and very productive” phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin shortly before hosting President Volodymyr Zelensky at Mar-a-Lago for talks on Sunday.
In a Truth Social posted just one hour before the meeting with Zelensky, Trump wrote: “I just had a good and very productive telephone call with President Putin of Russia prior to my meeting, at 1:00 p.m. today, with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine. The meeting will take place in the main dining room of Mar-a-Lago. Press is invited. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
The US president did not elaborate further on the details of the call with Putin.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said that the conversation was organized at the US president’s initiative and lasted for 75 minutes.
Ushakov described the conversation as “friendly, cordial and businesslike” and said it concerned “the current situation in the context of the Ukrainian conflict and the potential for its resolution.”
“The Russian and US presidents share broadly similar views that the temporary ceasefire proposed by the Ukrainians and Europeans, under the pretext of preparing for a referendum or other pretexts, will only prolong the conflict and risk a resumption of hostilities,” he said.
In light of this, Ushakov added, “it would make sense for [Kyiv] to make a decision regarding Donbas without delay.”
As the meeting kicked off, Trump confirmed that he would hold another call with Putin after talks with Zelensky, claiming “we have the makings of a deal.”
The US president described Putin as “very serious about peace” and suggested that “the people of Russia” wanted the war to end.
Zelensky’s spokesman earlier on Sunday confirmed that he and Trump would also consult with European leaders following the talks.
The call between Putin and Trump is likely to spark concerns in an already fraught moment as Zelensky gears up for his third US meeting this year.
In October, Trump held a similar, seemingly impromptu call with Putin shortly before meeting with Zelensky to discuss supplying Kyiv with Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Although Zelensky had signaled optimism about the prospect of the weapons being supplied, and Trump himself had refused to rule it out, after the call with his Russian counterpart the US president’s stance appeared to shift.
Putin reportedly told Trump on the call in October that supplying the Tomahawks would harm US-Russian relations, before Trump relayed to Zelensky that the US wanted to hold onto its arms.
“We don’t want to be giving things away that we need to protect our country,” he said at the White House meeting.
The memory of a bruising Oval Office clash in February this year is also likely to be fresh in the Ukrainian delegation’s mind.
Back then, Trump heatedly told Zelensky that he didn’t “have the cards right now” and accused him of “gambling with World War Three” as he was scolded for what JD Vance dubbed a lack of gratitude.
Earlier this week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that further talks would take place between the Russian and American delegations in the coming days.