Trump calls for Ukraine election after peace deal. Peace talks are set to begin on Friday in Munich.

 

Donald Trump shared a statement about his conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, noting:

“I just spoke with President Zelensky of Ukraine, and the discussion went very well. Like President Putin, he desires peace. We covered various topics concerning the war, but primarily focused on the meeting scheduled for Friday in Munich, where Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead the U.S. delegation.

I remain hopeful that the outcomes of the meeting will be positive. It’s time to end this senseless war that has caused unnecessary loss of life and destruction. God bless the people of Russia and Ukraine!”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked whether General Keith Kellogg, the administration’s envoy to Russia and Ukraine, had been excluded from the peace talks. She clarified, “He remains a crucial part of the team and continues to play a vital role in advancing negotiations. His contributions have been instrumental in getting us to this point.”

Nigel Farage, leader of the Reform Party and a Trump ally, suggested that Ukraine’s NATO membership might be an essential element in negotiations to resolve the conflict. “While I’ve historically opposed NATO’s expansion eastward, this is a new reality. I predicted this war back in 2014 and believe that NATO membership could be a key factor in getting both Putin and Zelensky to the negotiating table,” he remarked.

On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth warned NATO allies that they could no longer rely on the United States to defend Europe from Russian aggression. He stressed that Europe would need to take more responsibility for supporting Ukraine and addressing the Russian threat, especially as the U.S. shifts its focus toward China and domestic security.

He also ruled out sending U.S. troops to assist in maintaining peace in Ukraine during any potential ceasefire. “The strategic realities are clear: the U.S. cannot be the primary security guarantor for Europe,” Hegseth stated at a meeting of NATO’s Ukraine Defense Contact Group.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Foreign Ministry claimed that NATO had “abandoned” Ukraine, losing confidence in its ability to defeat Russia on the battlefield. Kremlin spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that NATO had stopped betting on the Kyiv regime, suggesting that the alliance had written it off. She pointed out the shift in rhetoric, from calls for defeating Russia to concerns over the Russian economy’s state.

Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, revealed that in his phone conversation with Trump, President Putin discussed Ukraine, a potential U.S.-Russia prisoner swap, and the Middle East. He added that Putin had extended an invitation for Trump to visit Moscow, expressing readiness to continue talks on mutual interests, including the Ukraine conflict.

Just hours before Trump’s announcement, the U.S. Secretary of Defense had outlined key points of a potential peace deal in Brussels. The U.S. seemed to rule out Ukraine’s NATO membership and the return of pre-war borders, which might frustrate Ukrainians but could be necessary to move negotiations forward.

Though the U.S. made certain concessions publicly, some see this as a strategic maneuver to bring Putin to the negotiating table. Russia had previously claimed that no convincing offers had been made to start peace talks, but now that appears to have changed. While the “peace through strength” approach remains a core philosophy for Trump, these concessions might be the key to initiating dialogue.