U.S. President Donald Trump with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. FIle
| Photo Credit: Reuters

President Donald Trump greets Russia’s President Vladimir Putin Friday
| Photo Credit: AP

Visitors stand in front of an artwork depicting U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at an exhibition in Yalta, Crimea. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump revealed Wednesday (February 12, 2025) that he expects to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saudi Arabia for Ukraine peace talks, in an extraordinary thaw in relations after a surprise phone call between the two leaders.

Following the interaction, China has offered to host a summit between the two leaders to help end the war, according to a report.

In their first confirmed contact since Mr. Trump’s return to the White House, the U.S. president said he had held a “lengthy and highly productive” conversation with the Russian counterpart who ordered the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

But the move sparked concerns that Ukraine will be left out of talks on its own fate, after Mr. Trump said Kyiv’s wish to join NATO was not “practical” — a key demand of Moscow.

Mr. Trump, who has been pushing for a quick end to the nearly three-year war, denied that Ukraine was being excluded from the direct negotiations between the two nuclear-armed superpowers.

“We expect that he’ll come here, and I’ll go there — and we’re going to meet probably in Saudi Arabia the first time,” Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office about his plans to meet Mr. Putin.

Mr. Trump said he expected it to happen “in the not too distant future” and added that Saudi Crown Prince Prince Mohammed bin Salman — who played a key role in a Russia-US prisoner exchange this week — would also be involved.

The Kremlin said the call lasted nearly one-and-a-half hours. The two leaders had agreed that the “time has come to work together” and that Mr. Putin has invited Mr. Trump to Moscow, it said.

China proposes Putin-Trump summit

Meanwhile, China has floated a proposal to hold a summit between Mr. Putin and Mr. Trump to help end the Ukraine war, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Chinese officials in recent weeks have raised a proposal with the Mr. Trump team through intermediaries to hold a summit between the two leaders and to facilitate peacekeeping efforts after an eventual truce, according to people in Beijing and Washington cited by the newspaper.

China has been repeatedly urged by the West to use its close relationship with Russia to help end the war. Beijing has said it was not a party to the crisis but that it had been consistently promoting peace talks on its own terms.

Call with Zelenskyy

After his interaction with Mr. Putin, Mr. Trump later called Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was not included on the earlier call.

Mr. Zelenskyy said afterwards that he had a “meaningful” call with Mr. Trump in which he had “shared details” of his talks with Mr. Putin.

Mr. Trump said after the conversation that Mr. Zelenskyy “like President Putin, wants to make PEACE.”

Andriy Yermak, head of Kyiv’s presidential office, said in televised comments that Mr. Zelenskyy and Mr. Trump had agreed to “immediately” start work on the high-level teams from each side who will try to hash out a deal.

The teams will “begin a process of daily work” and Mr. Zelenskyy and his officials will meet U.S. officials involved at the Munich Security Conference in a day’s time, Mr. Yermak said.

Russia’s terms

But Mr. Trump’s call with Mr. Putin has raised concerns that the United States was agreeing to Russia’s terms.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth told European counterparts earlier Wednesday that Ukraine’s dream of returning to its pre-2014 borders was an “illusionary goal” — and that Kyiv’s wish for NATO membership was “not realistic.”

Both are key demands of Moscow.

Mr. Trump denied that Mr. Zelenskyy was being frozen out, and rejected criticism that Mr. Hegseth’s comments meant Washington was agreeing to Russia’s preconditions.

Mr. Yermak meanwhile reiterated Kyiv’s stance that Ukraine’s “independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty” cannot be subject to compromise.

The Ukrainian leader is calling for tough security guarantees from Washington as part of any deal with Russia. Mr. Trump has meanwhile suggested a deal for Kyiv’s rare earth minerals in exchange for its continued military aid.

‘Root causes’

Mr. Zelenskyy is due to meet U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday (February 14, 2025) at the Munich Security Conference, after meeting U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Kyiv on Wednesday.

The Kremlin’s statement on the call with Mr. Trump was more measured.

It said Putin “agreed with Mr. Trump that a long-term settlement could be reached through peace negotiations” but said he wanted to “address the root causes of the conflict,” which Russian blames on western influence on Kyiv.

There had been signs of a thaw this week with a prisoner swap deal that saw Moscow free U.S. teacher Marc Fogel and Belarus release a U.S. citizen, while Washington released Russian cryptocurrency kingpin Alexander Vinnik.

Mr. Trump has previously expressed admiration for Putin and heaped praise on the Russian president in his Truth Social post. He said Mr. Putin “even used my very strong Campaign motto of, ‘COMMON SENSE.'” and thanked him for Mr. Fogel’s release.

However, concern has been mounting in Kyiv and European capitals about the shape of a possible deal.

The French, German and Spanish foreign ministers insisted Wednesday that there could be “no just and lasting peace” without the involvement of Kyiv and its European partners.

Russian President Vladimir Putin at a press conference in Astana, Kazakhstan, on November 28, 2024. Mr. Putin said “in his opinion” Donald Trump is not safe now
| Photo Credit: via Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin praised U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday (November 28, 2024) as an experienced and intelligent politician, but said he did not believe Mr. Trump was safe after attempts on his life.

Mr. Trump was wounded in an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania in July. In a separate incident in September, a man was charged with attempted assassination after allegedly positioning himself with a rifle at one of Mr. Trump’s Florida golf courses.

Speaking to reporters in Kazakhstan after a summit, Mr. Putin said he had been shocked by the way the U.S. election campaign had unfolded.

He cited “the absolutely uncivilised methods used to battle against Mr. Trump, up to and including an assassination attempt — and more than once”.

“By the way, in my opinion, he is not safe now,” said Mr. Putin.

“Unfortunately, in the history of the United States various incidents have happened. I think he (Trump) is intelligent and I hope he’s cautious and understands this.”

Shocked at Trump criticism

Mr. Putin, who is himself heavily protected, said he had been even more shocked though by how Mr. Trump’s family and children had been criticised by political opponents during the U.S. election campaign.

He called such behaviour “revolting” and said in Russia not even “bandits” would resort to such methods.

Talking about what he described as the Biden administration’s decision to escalate the war in Ukraine by allowing Kyiv to strike Russia with Western missiles, Mr. Putin speculated that it could be a ploy to either help Mr. Trump by giving him something to roll back or a way of making his life more difficult with Russia.

Either way, Mr. Putin said he thought Mr. Trump would “find the solution” and said Moscow was ready for dialogue.