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It is unclear whether Vladimir Putin is aware of this.
Donald Trump told Volodymyr Zelenskyy that he intends to achieve an end to the war in Ukraine as quickly as possible, Axios reports, citing a Ukrainian official and two other sources familiar with the conversation.
The 30-minute phone call was the first between Trump and Zelenskyy since their meeting in Davos in late January. It took place a day after the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a day before a planned meeting in Geneva between Trump’s special envoys — Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff — and Zelenskyy’s negotiating team. Both envoys were also reportedly present during Wednesday’s call.
According to another source, Russian representative Kirill Dmitriev may also be in Geneva on Thursday for separate talks with U.S. envoys. All three sources said the conversation between Trump and Zelenskyy was very friendly and positive.
A Ukrainian official and another source said Zelenskyy thanked Trump for all the assistance provided and stated that only Trump can force Putin to end the war.
“After that, Zelenskyy said he hopes the war will end this year, and Trump replied that the war has gone on too long and he would like it to end within a month,” one source said.
One of the issues discussed was the possibility of holding a trilateral summit of leaders.
Last week, Zelenskyy told Axios that disagreements over territorial issues could be resolved through direct talks between him, Trump, and Putin. Trump told Zelenskyy he would work on organizing such a trilateral summit if the next meeting of U.S., Russian, and Ukrainian negotiators, scheduled for early March, shows further progress.
“We expect this meeting to create an opportunity to elevate negotiations to the leaders’ level. President Trump supports this sequence of steps. This is the only way to resolve all complex and sensitive issues and finally end the war,” Zelenskyy wrote on X.
