The American president reportedly conveyed during a telephone conversation with his counterpart that he wishes for the fastest possible end to the war with , according to information from Axios citing a Ukrainian official and two other sources with knowledge of the telephone conversation.
As mentioned in the relevant publication, Trump aims to reach a peace agreement by the summer, although substantial differences remain between Kiev and Moscow, mainly regarding the territorial regime in eastern Ukraine.
With the participation of Witkov and Kushner the phone call
The conversation, which lasted about 30 minutes, was the first contact between the two leaders since they met in Davos in late January. It came a day after the four-year anniversary of the Russian invasion and a day before Trump’s envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff met with the Ukrainian negotiating team in Geneva. The two associates of the American president also participated in Wednesday’s telephone conversation.
At the same time, according to the same information, the Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev may also go to Geneva for separate contacts with the American side.
Positive climate, on the agenda tripartite Summit
Axios’ sources describe the atmosphere of the conversation as particularly positive and friendly. Zelensky reportedly thanked Trump for the US support, expressing the view that only he can convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war.
According to one of the sources, the Ukrainian president expressed hope for the conflict to end within the year, with Trump responding that the war has lasted too long and that he would like to see it end even within a month.
The possibility of organizing a tripartite summit was also at the center of the discussion. Zelensky told Axios last week that territorial issues can be addressed through direct negotiations between himself, Trump and Putin.
For his part, Trump has reportedly assured that he will work in this direction, provided that the next meeting of US, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in early March yields substantial progress. In a post on Platform X, Zelensky stressed that such a development could pave the way for top-level talks, noting that Trump’s support is crucial to resolving the complex and sensitive issues and ending the war once and for all.
Finally, according to a Ukrainian official, Trump reiterated his intention to provide Ukraine with substantial US security guarantees as part of a possible peace deal with Russia.
